Touch of an Innocent
by Xylexia
Summary: An unexpected accident befalls Orihime *I won't say what, it's a surprise!*  and being her guardian, Ulquiorra has to deal with it. How will the emotionless Espada put up with her and what will he learn in the process?
1. Introduction to the Heart

Touch of an Innocent

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Anime: Bleach

Genre: Friendship/Humor + Mild Angst

Characters: Ulquiorra Cifer/Orihime Inoue/Szayel Aporro Granz (There will be no romantic pairings...maybe...idk)

Rating: T

Summery: An unexpected accident befalls Orihime (I won't say what, it's a surprise!) and being her guardian, Ulquiorra has to deal with it. How will the emotionless Espada put up with her and what will he learn in the process?

A/N: This will sort of be canon with a AU twist (the accident that happens to Orihime).

Some characters might seem OOC…we'll see…I can't really help it…you'll understand =)

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Chapter 1: Introduction to the Heart

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It had felt like weeks, months, since Inoue Orihime had been brought to Hueco Mundo. No—since she had left Karakura to go to Hueco Mundo.

Yes. She left. She came willingly in order to protect her friends.

And here she sat, in a small room, inside Las Noches, wearing a white Arrancar uniform; a traitor.

She shifted restlessly in the crook of the old worn couch she was sitting in.

She couldn't think like that. She was not a traitor, she did not belong to Aizen. No matter how Ulquiorra, her captor, tried to brainwash her, she refused to let it work any longer.

She let her mind drift for a while and was interrupted by three knocks on the door.

"I'm coming in." A voice said.

She looked over at the door as it opened and a small man with porcelain white skin entered. Attached to his left side was a mint green scabbard, and inside was a sword with a jade green hilt. He was wearing a white hakama that was extremely baggy on his small frame, along with a long sleeved white jacket with coat tails. The jacket was zipped up the middle just to the base of his neck where you could see a small round pit of darkness, his hollow hole. On the left side of his head was a white, bone like helmet with a horn protruding and pointing backwards. The helmet covered most of his long, black, unruly hair, however, some still managed to poke through and fall in the middle of his face.

"Woman."

She stared up at him as he stood there with his hands in his pockets. His face was incredibly stoic, yet the green tear tracks that trailed down from his startling emerald green eyes made him look otherwise; he looked almost sad.

It sent a pang through her chest just looking at him. She couldn't believe he was as cold and emotionless as he portrayed himself to be. She'd been in Las Noches long enough, spent enough time with her captor, to have learned that much about him. He tried his best to hide it, from her and his comrades, but she could see the hidden emotions in him. The way he reacted when she would catch him off guard, or surprise him by reacting in a way he hadn't expected of her. She knew when he was angry, annoyed, confused, amused, conflicted…No. He wasn't emotionless at all.

Hollow or not, she knew he had a heart in him somewhere.

"You've not listened to a word I've said, have you woman?"

Her eyes refocused and snapped to his, her heart pounding. "I….I'm sorry Ulquiorra-san, I was lost in thought."

"Obviously." He closed his eyes, which Orihime had come to learn was his way of signing in annoyance. "As I was saying, Aizen-sama wishes for you to accompany me to Szayel Aporro's laboratory for a checkup."

"Umm…" She fisted the fabric of her gown in his hands, anxious. She never liked the pink haired scientist, he gave her the creeps. "Check up for what?"

"A physical and mental health checkup. Come with me, woman." He said turning from her and gliding out into the long hallway.

Resigning herself she stood and quickly caught up with Ulquiorra, and settled into a brisk pace behind him.

After about ten minutes Orihime started hearing some odd noises.

As she got closer she was able to identify the sound. There was a loud bang, a grunt of pain and laughter.

Worried, she picked up her pace and surprisingly passed Ulquiorra and rounded the corner to find a group of Arrancar surrounding what looked like one of the servant type Arrancar that came to her room with a meal every day. The small Arrancar looked beat up and bloody as it lay curled up on the floor.

One of the taller, lankier Arrancar stepped forward and kicked the smaller Arrancar at the hollow hole in his stomach, and another stepped on its mask.

"STOP!" She yelled, rushing forward and using her Shun Shun Rikka to form a shield between the helpless Arrancar and the group of bullies.

"What the hell do you think you're doing girl?" The tall lanky Arrancar hissed advancing on her.

She glared at them, "Why are you doing this! Aren't you all comrades!"

This earned her a laugh from the whole group.

"Tch. Comrades? Nobody here are 'comrades' girl. We all look out for number one, and if you're weak, you die. Plain and simple." He grinned as he pulled out his Zanpakuto and shattered her barrier, re-advancing on the small Arrancar.

"Stop!" she yelled, taking a step forward and readying her Koten Zanshun attack.

"That is enough." Ordered a calm, cool voice behind her.

Her eyes widened, she had completely forgotten about Ulquiorra, though she couldn't help but smile at the looks of fear and surprise that rippled across the group in front of her right before they scattered.

Immediately she set about healing the unconscious Arrancar with her Shun Shun Rikka.

Ulquiorra leaned against the wall, his eyes closed. "Foolish woman. Why do you waste your time on trash?"

"They're not trash," she began, as she focused her reiatsu on the being before her, "and I just don't like seeing anyone hurt."

"Why don't you like seeing anyone hurt?" He asked, ignoring her rebuttal about trash, looking at her.

"I just don't. It's pointless. If I were to ever hate something in this world, it would be senseless pain and violence." She said firmly. "It hurts to see anyone in pain, especially my friends."

"How could another beings physical pain hurt you when you're not connected in any way?" He wondered, genuinely interested.

She sighed and closed her eyes, what he was asking was a different matter entirely, and one she was sure he wouldn't understand.

But she had to try.

"It hurts, not physically, but…inside, in here." She tapped her chest where her heart would be.

His eyes narrowed, "it hurts your heart? Isn't the heart a physical organ used to pump blood through your body?"

Orihime stared down at the Arrancar and let her shield fade, he was good as new. Standing up she straightened out and motioned for her captor to continue taking her to Szayel's laboratory.

She continued her explanation. "The heart I'm referring to is not something tangible, it is…the bases for all emotions, positive and negative, that a person experiences: Happiness, joy, anger, pain, lust, compassion, sympathy, sadness, jealousy, kindness….love, just to name a few."

She looked over at Ulquiorra who still had an unreadable expression on his face. "Even indifference and annoyance are feelings that come from the heart." She noticed his eyes narrow just the tiniest fraction at this. She held back the smile that threatened to escape. She had him there.

"That is why it hurts; I guess you can say I wear my heart on my sleeve; that my heart goes out to those in need." She smiled weakly. She knew he didn't understand, though one day, she hoped he would.

Ulquiorra paused outside a large double door, his hand poised to knock. "My eye sees everything. Nothing can escape it. What it doesn't see, doesn't exist." He rapped on the door three times.

Orihime frowned slightly, though she wasn't surprised by his response at all.

After several moments the tall pink haired Espada opened the door. "Ah, Ulquiorra-san," he said with a slight air of contempt, inclining his head a fraction. He looked over a Orihime, a calculating gleam in his amber eyes, "I've been expecting you, please, come this way." He turned and they followed him into his laboratory.

His lab was huge and totally cluttered with gadgets and knickknacks. Everywhere she looked her eyes landed on a table topped with glass vials filled with some unknown liquid. Every single corner was taken up by some sort of computer, or machine, a large capsule or container holding a dead or live specimen.

The place gave her the creeps, and she was afraid to move less she break something.

"Welcome to my laboratory Inoue Orihime. I am Szayel Aporro Granz, Octava Espada. Please take a seat." He pointed at what looked like a cross between an examination table and a dentist's chair.

She glanced at her captor nervously, seeking some reassurance, though she knew wouldn't be any.

He was leaning with his back against the wall, hands in his pockets and eyes shut.

'Figures.'

"Inoue-san." He said more firmly, annoyance lacing his voice.

"Hai! Gomenasai!" She squeaked, carefully making her way through the laboratory and sitting in the prescribed chair.

(Gomenasai = I'm sorry)

He picked up a clipboard from a table nearby and a pen, "Okay lets get started!" He said excitedly with a gleam in his eye.

Orihime nodded obediently. For the next hour she was weighed, measured, had her temperature and heart rate taken, several vials of blood drawn among other things. Then afterwards he handed her a small survey, asking her random questions in regards to her mental health.

_i Do you ever get lonely?/i_ 'Yes. I miss my friends.'

_i Do you ever get scared? /i_ 'Yes, but only for my friends.'

_i How often do you get the social and emotional support you need? /i _'I never get social and emotional support, not here, not in Las Noches.'

_i In general, how satisfied are you with your life? /i _'I'm not. I don't like being weak and not being able to take care of myself. I didn't like being a burden, so that's why I came to Las Noches.'

_i Do you have trouble falling asleep? /i _'No, all there is to do is sleep.'_  
i Do you have ever feel tired or fatigued? /i_ 'Yes, only because I oversleep.'

_i Do you ever have a poor appetite or don't feel like eating? /i_ 'Yes, the food here is horrible. Who comes up with that stuff!'

_i Do you ever have trouble concentrating? /i _'Yes, I get so bored my mind wanders a lot.'

_i Do you ever feel nervous? /i '_Only when I'm around Aizen-sama, Gin and Nnoitra.'_  
i Do you ever feel hopeless or worthless? /i _'Sometimes, mainly when people try to protect me.'

The questions continued on for several pages before she finally finished. She sighed as she finally put the pen down. "I'm done, Szayel-san."

The Pink Haired scientist came over and took the clipboard from her. "Good, that will be all then. You may go."

Relieved, Orihime quickly stood up, stretched and began heading back to where her captor has been standing.

"SZAYEL APORRO-SAMA!"

Something screamed from behind Orihime. She turned around only to be tackled and knocked into one of the many lab tables. Instinctively she threw out her hands to brace herself and only succeeded in flipping over a large tray of liquid filled vials, splattering it all over her face and skin. Her skin began to itch and burn painfully, making her want to scream, then her vision went black.

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Chapter 2 teaser: The two Espada looked at each other.

If looks could kill, Szayel would be a dead man. "I'll let you explain this to Aizen-sama, Szayel Aporro." Ulquiorra hissed.

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A/N: So what do YOU think happened to Orihime?

Also I know I know I should be working on Tainted Souls…but this idea was too adorable to pass up. I haven't read anything like it xD anyways…you'll see what I mean in Chapter 2 :)


	2. Accident's Happen

Thank you all who reviewed and/or added me to your alerts/favs! :D it means a lot! Thank you for your feedback!

Ashy-Hikari and frawg360: Na she didn't get chicken pocks. But you know, she could later on ^^ hehe it's a nice idea! I /might/ use it later, if you don't mind? We'll see how the story flows!

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Chapter 2: Accident's Happen

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Ulquiorra and Szayel watched in horror as a slew of chemicals spilled all over the woman.

A huge cloud of steam was created from the combination and they could hear hissing and bubbling, though no sound came from the woman at all.

Szayel sprung into action, grabbing a hose with a spray nozzle on the end and started washing the chemicals away and down the drain in the floor. "LUMINA! I'm going to permanently kill you if anything happened to her! Aizen-sama is going to have both our asses! Why were you running around in the laboratory anyway you stupid worm? You know the rules!" He berated the large round Arrancar, who was slowly crawling back along the floor away from the angry Espada.

"Szayel, if anything happens to that woman, Aizen-sama will have my ass. But your ass is mine." Ulquiorra stated crisply, his normally emotionless face betraying him, the tightly veiled anger slipping through.

Szayel grimaced, pursing his lips together, as he finished washing away the chemicals. Soon after, the haze started to clear.

The two Espada peered at the floor and gaped in shock.

On the floor where Orihime had fallen was a small child with fiery orange hair, two blue hairclips and wearing a miniature Arrancar uniform. She was soaking wet and shivering, her arms folded across her chest and tears in her eyes. "Why'd you get me all wet?" she cried, stamping her foot.

The two Espada looked at each other.

If looks could kill, Szayel would be a dead man. "I'll let you explain this to Aizen-sama, Szayel Aporro." Ulquiorra hissed.

Szayel paled and looked back at the little girl in front of him. "Inoue….chan?" he asked.

She glared up at him. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers!" she said and she stuck her tongue out at him.

Szayel sighed before walking a bit away to a cupboard and pulling out a towel. Going back to the young girl, he crouched down to her level. "My name is Szayel Aporro Granz. What's your name?" he asked in his nicest voice.

"Inoue Orihime," she mumbled, eying the towel in Szayel's hands.

Ulquiorra watched them interact with slight interest.

"Nice to meet you Inoue-chan, here." He handed the towel to her, which she took immediately. "Dry yourself off."

Instead she wrapped it around her body. "Who's dat?" she looked over at the man with the strange green markings on his face. Her eyes lit up. "Clown!"

Szayel turned his head away and bit his lip to stop from laughing.

"No. I am Cifer Ulquiorra." He said dispassionately.

"Clown!" she exclaimed again.

He closed his eyes. "We—you, need to go inform Aizen-sama about…this." He said to Szayel as he walked out of the laboratory.

Szayel sighed, resigning himself to the pain that would be coming. "Come Inoue-chan, we must go."

She looked up at the pink haired man who was towering over her and pouted. "Do I haf too?" She asked, tightening the towel around her body as if it provided some protection from the strange room and people.

"Yes, now come along." He started towards the exit of the lab.

"Okay….Pinky wait for me!" she yelled trying to run after him on her little legs.

'Pinky?' he thought as he let out a breath of annoyance. Looking back he could tell she was having a hard time keeping up with the two Espada.

"Ulquiorra-san, why don't you carry her so that we may use sonido, otherwise this will take forever."

Ulquiorra glared at him, then he glared at the girl. "This is your fault. You deal with it." He said, turning from the two.

Szayel pressed him further, not wanting to be the one to carry the child. "Regardless, Aizen-sama appointed her your responsibility. You cannot just push it off on me. My only responsibility is to inform Aizen-sama of what has transpired and take the brunt of any punishment he wishes to deliver." With that he sonidoed away, leaving the Cuatro Espada with the child.

Ulquiorra closed his eyes and sighed inwardly. "Come here, girl." He ordered.

"Clown?" she asked, coming to the funny looking Espada and looking up at him.

"Don't call me that. Call me Ulquiorra-sama. I will need to carry you." He said emotionlessly as he picked the small girl up, cradling her against him and using sonido.

Little Hime closed her eyes and clung to the clown as her stomach did a bunch of flip flops. She wasn't sure who these weird people were but she knew she didn't like moving like this. It made her stomach hurt and head dizzy.

After several tense moments of sonidoing, Ulquiorra stopped in front of two large, thick, white double doors. Szayel had a slight smirk on his face as Ulquiorra put the small child back down.

"Don't like thatt!" she exclaimed, her face slightly pale and her stance woozy.

They let the girl rest for a few moments, as they didn't want any unpleasant accidents to occur while in Aizen's presence. When she was ready, they knocked on the large doors.

"Szayel Aporro and Ulquiorra requesting an audience with our Lord, Aizen-sama." The scientist said clearly.

After a minute of waiting they heard a voice, "Come in."

They swung open the large doors and walked inside.

Szayel quickly took the lead and bent down on one knee respectfully.

Tosen, Gin and Aizen stood before them.

"To what do I owe—"

"Onii-san!" The little girl charged past the two Espada and tackled Aizen, latching onto his leg.

(Onii-san = Big brother)

Szayel's head shot up, his eyes wide. 'Oh shit!'

"What is the meaning of this?" Aizen glared down at the small body and orange head of hair latched onto his leg. He could see two little blue clips sticking out of her hair.

"Aizen-sama…the check up you scheduled for the woman went perfectly! But then she tripped and fell into a bunch of bottled chemicals and this is the result…"

He glared at Szayel, "don't tell me this is the woman…" He wanted nothing more than to release a blast of reiatsu that would suffocate the pink haired Espada, but he dared not with the girl present.

"Onii-san…" Little Hime looked up at the brown haired man, she could feel the anger radiating off of him. Tears began to trickle from her eyes.

Aizen sighed inwardly, "Ulquiorra, take the girl while I deal with Szayel."

Little Hime looked back at Pinky. His face was drawn and white, an aura of fear emanated from him. "Onii-san, don't hurt Pinky!" she begged, clutching at Aizen's hakama.

Aizen looked down at her and couldn't help but laugh, much of his anger melting away instantly, "Seems as if she has a name for all of us…Fine." He glared at the Octava Espada. "Get out of my sight Szayel, figure out a way to fix this problem. And Ulquiorra, keep a closer eye on the girl, she's in a much more vulnerable state than she had been before."

Ulquiorra nodded, "As you wish Aizen-sama." He approached Aizen and the miniature woman. "Come with me, girl."

Her lip quivered as she looked from her Onii-san to the Clown. 'Why does Onii-san want me to go with the Clown man?' she thought, confused.

Pursing his lips Aizen bent down and gently removed the child's grip from his uniform, "go with Ulquiorra, do what Onii-san says." He said firmly, smiling down at the child.

Smiling, Little Himi nodded her head up and down enthusiastically. She would always do what her Onni-san said, even if it meant going with the strange Clown man! She backed away from him, still clutching the damp towel to her chest and turned to the pale man wearing makeup. "Okay Clown!" she said running to him.

Aizen turned quickly away and headed back to the throne, "I wonder what name she'll come up with for you two." He said, referring to Gin and Tosen who had been standing behind him, watching the entire spectacle.

Szayel stood and straightened out his uniform before following after Ulquiorra and Inoue-chan. Once outside he let out a relieved sigh and closed his eyes. 'That was a close one, who knew Aizen-sama had a soft spot for kids.'

"You got lucky, Szayel Aporro." Ulquiorra said tonelessly after Szayel had caught up. They were walking slowly, the girl in front of them setting the pace.

"You don't need to tell me that." Szayel hissed, his pride bruised by the fact that he had been saved by a mere child.

"How long do you think before you find a cure to…this." The Cuatro asked.

"I'm not sure. The contents of the vials she had spilt were the results of several different experiments; all successful of course. Though the problem being now is redoing all the experiments and then trying to combine the substances in a way that creates the same result. Then after all that, I must set out trying to find a way to reverse it." Szayel sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he walked. "It will take a while, but I'm sure I can do it."

"I see." Ulquiorra watched the child walking in front of them. She was walking slowly, the towel clutched in her hand like a security blanket, as it dragged on the floor. Occasionally she'd glance back over her shoulder at him, as if making sure he was still following her.

After they walked for about ten minutes she stopped and looked back at them, "legs hurt," she said and held her arms up.

Ulquiorra glared down at her.

Szayel smirked at the Cuatro Espada's obvious ignorance. "She wants you to carry her, Ulquiorra-san."

Little Hime started bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. "Peas!" She begged.

Throwing a glare over at Szayel that seemed to say, 'speak of this and die,' Ulquiorra crouched down and gathered the girl up in his arms.

Little Hime squealed in delight and hugged Ulquiorra around the neck, "Yay! Clown ride clown ride!"

Ulquiorra closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself. 'This is getting ridiculous,' he thought as he continued on down the hallway as fast as he could without using sonido.

Szayel bit the inside of his cheek to keep the laugh inside that threatened to break out. He never thought he'd see the day where Ulquiorra would have to baby sit a child. Chuckling to himself he parted ways at an intersection of hallways. "I'll get to work right away on the cure….Clown-san." He said before sonidoing away as fast as he could.

Ulquiorra sent invisible daggers at the spot the scientist had been standing seconds before.

"Where'd Pinky go?" the little girl in his arms asked.

Ulquiorra continued on down the hallway. "To make you some medicine."

At this the little girl made a face of disgust. "I no need no medicine!" she stated with the utmost authority a five year old child could muster.

Ulquiorra ignored her and instead stopped at the all-too-familiar door that led inside the woman's—girl's cell. Opening the door he walked inside, set her down, turned around and walked right back out, shutting the door behind him.

He had only taken two steps away from the door when he heard a banging and wailing coming from behind it.

Alarmed, he pulled it open to see what the matter was.

The little girl stood there staring up at him, tears in her eyes and the towel clutched in her little hands.

"What is it?" He asked, his voice flat and unwelcoming.

"Why you leave?" she asked in a small voice.

He closed his eyes, attempting to squash the annoyance and frustration that attempted to surface. "I have jobs I need to do, girl. You will stay here in this room until it is time for your meal." With that he turned and made to leave once again.

Immediately he felt something clinging to the back of his leg.

Perplexed he looked down to find the little girl sobbing against his hakama, the towel still clutched in one of her small hands. "No—leave—me…Don't—like—being—alone!" She got out between sobs. "Onii-chan always leave me alone! He always has jobs! No leave me!" She pulled at his uniform desperately.

Ulquiorra stood motionless for several moments, weighing his options as the girl continued to leak all over the back of his hakama. He didn't want to leave her in such a distressed state and Aizen-sama did tell him to keep a closer eye on the girl as she was much more vulnerable, mentally and physically.

Finally relenting, he turned around and gathered her up in his arms once again, "you're lucky all my 'job' consists of today is paperwork." He said under his breath as he made his way to his personal tower.

Luckily on his way there he did not encounter any Arrancar and had soon passed into the base of his domain. You could tell it was the Cuatro Espada's tower. The entire level was empty, eerie and in shadows, the sound of his footsteps echoed down the hallway.

After a while longer they reached a large double door, similar to the thick white one that gave entrance to the throne room. However this one was made of what looked like dark grey Sekkiseki stone with the number four engraved upon it.

He was about to set the girl down so he could open the door when he noticed that she had fallen asleep.

Turning around he braced his back up against the door and pushed. For anyone other than an Espada, the feat would have been nigh impossible. To Ulquiorra, it was nothing.

Slipping through the crack in the door, he shut it. Inside his room was, surprisingly, very earthly themed. The carpet was a brown and black grainy color. The walls were a very dark, scratchy beige. The ceiling, which was twice as high as a normal ceiling, had been painted to depict a bottomless pit, almost making it look like the ceiling would never end; or in fact, that there was no ceiling at all.

Across the far back wall was a long window overlooking the moon and barren sands of Hueco Mundo. Just off to the side of the window, in the back right corner, was a large four poster bed that looked to be made of polished and lacquered mahogany; its comforter and pillows were white. Sitting directly in front of the center of the window seal was a mahogany desk with a small lamp that was overflowing with paper. The back left corner of the room was occupied by a single door, which presumably led to the restroom. A ways off from the door there was a sliding door, which opened up into a closet. Between the two doors were several shelves and cases of (you guessed it) all kinds of books. In the very center of the room was a rusty colored sofa with a long mahogany coffee table in front of it.

Taking a few steps over to the sliding door, he pulled it open and grabbed an extra blanket and pillow. Turning around he strode through to the sofa and set the pillow down in the crook of the couch and then lay the child upon it. He covered her small body up with the blanket and made sure her head was lying correctly so that she wouldn't awaken with pain in her neck. He stared down at her sleeping form, surprised that he hadn't disturbed her.

Satisfied that she would be comfortable and would not awaken for a while, he turned back to his desk and began his 'work.'

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Chapter 3 teaser: Ulquiorra closed his eyes. "You will address me as Ulquiorra-sama or Ulquiorra-san, Sexta Espada. I am your superior and you shall treat me as such." Ulquiorra said to the blue eyed, blue haired Espada standing behind him yards away.

"Ha!" He scoffed, "T.G.R.Y.H.T.G.R. Ulquiorra."

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A/N: Brownie points (or Llama) to the person that knows what T.G.R.Y.H.T.G.R. means ^^

I also hope you like the little 'accident' I had planned ^^ I think it'll make for a really cute story and I haven't read anything like it! :D


	3. Patience is a Virtue

Thank you all for reading and reviewing! You make my day! I love waking up to find the notifications in my email! Please keep it up, it motivates me to write faster!

Anonymous reviews:

Rima: Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story and Little Hime! She's so cute I could put her in my pocket and take her home with me ^^;

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Chapter 3: Patience is a Virtue

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After a while he looked up from his papers to stare out at the stars of Hueco Mundo only to realize that several hours had passed. He stood and stretched his stiff limbs and joints. He greatly disliked sitting in any one spot for a length of time; one reason why he detested Aizen-sama's meetings.

Looking over at the couch, he could barely make out the young girl. The only way he knew she was there was by the small lock of orange hair sticking up out of all the white and brown.

Deciding it was time for her evening meal, he quickly left the room and sonidoed to the kitchens. There he ordered one of the weak servants to fix up the usual.

He was beginning to let his mind drift when sharp foot falls and the kitchen door opening caught his attention.

"Oi, Ulquiorra, I heard a very interesting rumor."

Ulquiorra closed his eyes. "You will address me as Ulquiorra-sama or Ulquiorra-san, Sexta Espada. I am your superior and you shall treat me as such." Ulquiorra said to the blue eyed, blue haired Espada standing behind him yards away.

"Ha!" He scoffed, "T.G.R.Y.H.T.G.R. Ulquiorra."

At this Ulquiorra turned and stared at him with indifference.

"To get respect you have to give respect, Cuatro." Grimmjow grinned, secretly patting himself on the back for knowing a phrase that the Cuatro did not.

"I am your superior; you will respect my position, regardless." Ulquiorra stated with finality.

Grimmjow rolled his eyes as he leaned against the island, "Anyways, I heard a rather interesting rumor. Apparently you and Szayel somehow turned that woman into a kid."

Ulquiorra remained expressionless, "Szayel's Fracción did. I had nothing to do with it."

"Yea but look who has to play baby sitter and carry her around everywhere!" The Sexta laughed.

Ulquiorra mentally rolled his eyes at the Sexta's obvious attempt to bait him. "I will do whatever Aizen-sama commands." He stated, turning from his subordinate and retrieving the now ready meal.

"Tch, of course you will. You're Aizen's favorite, nothin' but a suck up." He called over his shoulder before using sonido to escape the kitchen and Ulquiorra's wrath.

'What a piece of trash.' Ulquoirra thought as he walked back up to his tower, food in hand. 'I see no difference in my duty between now and days ago when the woman was her real age. It has always been my obligation, then and now, to protect her and keep her alive.'

Reaching the large double doors, he pushed it open, entered, shut them and turned around only to find something latched on to his leg again.

"Where you go?" she cried up at him, jumping up and down as she yanked on his uniform.

"Release me, girl." He said, walking past her. "I brought you food."

She let go and followed after him excitedly. "Yay, food! What kind?"

He looked down at her out of the corner of his eye, "the kind you eat." He said flatly.

She giggled.

"Did I say something amusing?" He asked, setting the tray down on the table.

She nodded. "Funny clown!"

"I am not a clown. I am Ulquiorra." He said firmly, staring down at her now.

"Ulqora?" she tried, making a weird face in the process. "Uquira?"

He stared down at her. He could feel something odd trying to bubble up within him as he watched her struggle. Logically he should have been insulted that she would butcher his name, instead, he was amused. He crouched down in front of her and held up a finger, demanding her attention. "Ul-qui-or-ah." He said slowly for her.

She went silent and stared at him for a moment before jumping up and down, "Ulqui Ulqui!"

Grating his teeth he stood up and let out a breath, exasperated with the girl. "Get up here and eat your dinner." He ordered, pointing at the couch.

She pushed herself up on the couch and once she was situated, she stared down at the plate in front of her with a look of distaste. "What is it?"

"Food. Eat it." Ulquiorra said.

The 'food' looked like grey and green lumps of matter that had been squeezed out of oblong tubes.

"Eww I don't wanna eat that!" She made a face of disgust and crossed her arms.

"Eat it, girl!"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "No! I don't wanna!"

Ulquiorra's patience wearing thin, he picked up the fork and speared some food with it, "You will eat this, or I will hold you down and force it down your throat!"

She looked up at him with wide watery eyes and started wailing, fearful of the dark, angry aura emanating from the Clown. "You….you….you meanie!" she cried, her face now red and tear streaked.

Ulquiorra closed his eyes as the urge to choke the girl surged through him. After several moments of deep breathing he managed to subdue his inner hollow and calm down. He stared down at the sobbing child before him, who kept looking between him and the fork fearfully.

He sighed, "at least try this. If you don't like it, then I will get you something else, is that understood?" he said in his flattest, most emotionless voice.

It took several moments for the child to comprehend what he said, but slowly she calmed down enough to nod and take the fork from his hand. At least he wasn't glaring at her and leaking that scary aura anymore.

He watched her as she took the food in her mouth and chewed for several seconds before making a face. However, to his relief, she swallowed it.

"Do not want!" she said, handing the fork back to him.

Taking the fork he asked, "then what is it you will eat, girl?" his eyes narrowing.

She appeared thoughtful for a few moments before finally exclaiming, "bread and bean paste!"

Nodding, he stood from the couch, tray in hand, "I will return shortly, stay on the couch. Understood girl?"

She nodded as she wiped a few stray tears aside, a small smile on her face. She was happy that the Clown wasn't going to make her eat the yucky food.

Turning, Ulquiorra rushed from his tower into the kitchen before slamming the useless tray on the counter, startling the Arrancar servants. "Get me two slices of bread with red bean paste on it." He ordered, daring them to question him.

He was so annoyed that he failed to notice the other powerful presence in the kitchen.

"What's the matter Espada-san?" a sinister sweet voice asked from the corner of the room.

Ulquiorra glared at the man who dared interrupt him, as he leaned back against the island, his hands in his pockets.

"Is the wee lil'child givin' ya a hard time, Ulquiorra-san?" he further inquired. He smiled widely, his eyes slits.

"The girl would not eat." He admitted, clenching his fists in his pockets. "I threatened to force the girl to eat and all she did was cry."

"I see. One must have patience when dealing with children, Ulquiorra-san. You cannot lose your temper with them as they are likely to become temperamental right back." He said, leaving his corner and walking out of the kitchen.

Ulquiorra glared after him. He vaguely wondered just how Gin knew how to handle children. He nearly shuddered at the thought. 'Patience?' he thought. 'Of course I'm patient, more like indifferent to the stupidity that surrounds me on a daily basis. If I can handle my idiotic subordinates, I can handle a child.'

Seconds later an Arrancar came with the requested food. Ulquiorra grabbed the proffered plate and moments later he was back outside his tower door. 'This is anything but a balanced diet but as long as the girl eats something, I will not have neglected my duties.' He told himself as he pushed open and closed his tower doors for the fourth time that night.

He strode over to the table and set the plate down before the now calm, yet bored looking, girl. "Eat." He ordered.

She looked down at the food and her eyes lit up, "red paste, my favrit!" she squealed, grabbing up a slice and shoving it into her mouth. After several minutes she looked up at the Clown and asked, "can I hav sum ting to dink?"

He turned from the girl without saying anything and went into the side room. Moments later he returned holding a small glass of water, handing it to her.

"Dank you!" she said again after taking a huge draught of water and handing the glass back to him.

He set it back down on the table and was about to sit down at his desk when the girl exclaimed, "Done!"

Turning back around, he returned to the table and looked at the plate. It still had one slice of bread on it. "You're not done. Finish it."

She folded her arms across her chest and stuck her bottom lip out, "but I'm full!"

Ulquiorra closed his eyes and suppressed the need to kill once more. Grabbing the plate he said, "Do not waste food. Next time, I will not be so lenient." He said glaring down at the girl.

Her lip quivered slightly, but she nodded her understanding.

After he had disposed of the wasted food, he returned to her. "It is time for you to get cleaned up. Come with me, girl." He turned from her and headed towards the door in the back. He looked back at the couch where the girl was continuing to stare at him. "Come. You need to bathe."

At this her eyes lit up, "yay! Bath time bath time!" she vaulted herself off the couch and tore past Ulquiorra into the bathroom. He shut the door behind her.

He was about to walk back to his desk when he heard the door click open behind him. "Clown?"

"It's Ulquiorra." He said firmly, turning around to face her, his hands in his pockets clenched so tightly he wondered if he might break through his own heirro. "What is it now?"

She looked at the floor, "I don't know how."

Ulquiorra almost hissed in exasperation as he stared at the child. "How to what? Run the water?" he asked coldly, pushing past her. He wanted to call her trash, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. She was just a child after all.

"Come here. I'll show you how so that you have no need to bother me with this in the future." He said firmly, beckoning her over.

The child nodded and stood beside him next to the tub, her arms folded across her chest.

Ulquiorra pointed at the two knobs. "See this red knob? This is for hot water. The blue knob is for cold water. You must run both of them for a warm bath so you do not burn yourself or get sick. Do you understand so far?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

Ulquiorra pointed at the facet, and the little stick protruding from the top. "To run a bath, make sure this is pushed down. If it's pulled up, you'll run a shower instead." Then Ulquiorra grabbed the stopper from the corner of the bath. "This object here," he put it in the drain, "stops up the tub so the water doesn't drain out as you run the bath. Can you remember all of this, girl?" He asked, once he'd finished his explanation.

"Yea." she said in a small voice. She looked around the bathroom as the Clown ran the water for her.

It was decent size and matched the same theme as the main room. The tile and walls were all earthly tones with white trim. The sink and counter was to the right of the entrance. The toilet was in the back right and the tub was to the back left. On the sink there were bottles of soaps, shampoos and other necessities. Ulquiorra grabbed one of these and poured a bit of it into the tub as the water ran.

She didn't see any toys.

"Ummm…."

"What is it?" He asked as he put the bottle back.

For some reason she got the feeling this Clown didn't have any toys, but she had to ask anyway. "Are there any toys?" she glanced at the tub, hoping he would know what she was talking about.

"No, I have no toys." He said, 'none that a child would find entertaining anyway.' He thought. He glanced at her and she looked as if she were going to cry again. He crouched down to her level once more. "Remember…Pinky?" he asked. He had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smirking at the nick name.

The little girl nodded her head.

"Next time we see him, we'll see if he has toys. Okay?" He offered, not wanting the child to cry anymore that day.

She nodded her head enthusiastically.

He straightened up and turned the water off before the bubbles within the tub could overflow onto the floor. Reaching up into a high cupboard, he pulled out a couple towels and laid them on the counter. He walked to the door and made to leave, "Get undressed and clean yourself." He ordered once more before stepping out into his bed room.

Dimming the lights, Ulquiorra took off his jacket and threw it across his desk chair and proceeded to fall into the softness that was his four poster bed. Hollow in general don't need sleep. Though being Arrancar meant he was half shinigami, and after a day like today he couldn't help but want to, or at the very least, relax his eyes.

Letting out a deep breath, he buried the right side of his face into the soft blanket and pillow, his body going limp as he relaxed. He closed his eyes and let his mind blank out.

After an unknown amount of time, he was startled into awareness by the sound of the bathroom door clicking shut and the light pitter patter of footsteps on the carpeted floor.

He listened as she stopped nearby the table.

Little Hime looked between the couch and the bed, indecisive. She was afraid of the dark, she didn't want to sleep alone, but she was also afraid that the Clown would yell at her again if she woke him up. She wished her Onii-san were here, he would let her sleep near him. She frowned as she walked over and climbed up onto the couch, snuggling into the blanket and pillow.

Ulquiorra closed his own eyes, relieved that the child had gone to sleep without a fuss.

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Chapter 4 teaser: Nnoitra swung Santa Teresa back as his lips flattened into a thin line. You could see the muscles in his jaw twitching as he ground his teeth while he desperately tried to repress the urge to kill the girl.

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A/N: Soooo what do you think? What do you think the theme of my story is? xD Do you think Ulquiorra is staying pretty well in character? It's kind of hard keeping him in character as possible. I know that in canon, if he encountered a kid, he'd call it trash and walk away or kill it. But this just isn't ANY kid. This is Orihime, so he can't call it trash and walk away. He has to deal with it…and be as patient as possible. lol

Also I'm sure you're wondering why Ulquiorra has a toilet…well I'd wonder too. Let's just say it's something that Aizen added to every restroom in Las Noches for w/e reason. I'm tempted to call it a Hollow-toilet, just for giggles. SO CREEPY! (I would NOT use that!)


	4. Three Fold Law

An: Sorry this took so long for me to update! Just been kind of out of it lately, distracted. And now I got college coming up…bleh.

Many thanks to my reviewers and stalkers, you're the best and your comments make me feel all warm and fluffy inside! =D (lol creepy much)

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Chapter 4: Three Fold Law

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Ulquiorra awoke several hours later. Rolling over, he swung his legs over the side of his bed and let his eyes readjust to the lighting.

The lights were still off, however the rays of Hueco Mundo's moon filtered in through the window, giving off enough light for Ulquiorra to make out the small figure that was fast asleep on the sofa.

He still couldn't quite believe what had happened the previous day. The woman, his charge, had been in a chemical accident and transformed into a small child that appeared no more than five years of age. Not only had she recessed physically, but her mind had as well.

Ulquiorra shook his head and stood up, making his way over to his closet. He secretly wished the older woman was back as he was not adept at dealing with clinging children. Heck, he wasn't adept at dealing with the woman period, for that matter. She always surprised him, and back then he could at least rely on her to wear her emotions on her sleeves. Now though, the girl was completely unpredictable.

Grabbing a fresh set of clothing out of the closet, he made his way into the restroom and stopped dead.

There was water all over the floor and the tub was still full up, not to mention the towels were lying on the ground, soaked.

Taking a deep breath he put his clothing on the counter and cleaned up the child's mess. Afterwards, he stripped down and took a shower himself.

By the time he had redressed himself and was in the middle of drying out his hair, he heard a small pounding on the restroom door. He opened it to find the girl rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"I need to go potty." She said as way of an explanation.

Unperturbed, he stepped aside and held the door for her, allowing her entrance. Once she was inside, he tossed his wet towel into the hamper and shut the door behind him. Heading over to the large double doors, he waited, leaning up against the wall.

After several minutes she came out and looked around for him.

"Come with me, it is time for your meal." He said, opening the large double doors and heading out.

She hurriedly ran down the long spiraling hallway after him.

He glanced back over his shoulder and slowed his pace a fraction, seeing that the child was having trouble keeping up with him. It took them about fifteen minutes to reach the kitchens and to Ulquiorra's relief, the girl didn't pester him for a free ride.

Once inside the kitchen he took her to the pantry. "What do you want to eat, girl?" He asked somewhat reluctantly.

"Ummm…" she walked inside and looked around at the shelves lined with cans and boxes. She couldn't read what any of them were let alone know what she wanted. She looked back at the Clown man and frowned. "Don't know."

"Pick out something or I will do it for you. You will eat." He said with finality.

She frowned, looking around frantically, the little girl picked out the most colorful object within reach, which in this case, turned out to be a box of lucky charms™. Turning around she held the box up proudly to the Clown man. "Kay!" she exclaimed.

Ulquiorra took the box without a word and turned back into the kitchen, "go sit down." He ordered as he rummaged through the cupboards and drawers for a spoon and bowl. Once found, he poured some cereal and then got some milk from the refrigerator to add to it.

Returning to the girl he set the bowl down and ordered her to eat before returning to his usual spot against the island, hands in his pockets.

"Dank you!" the girl squealed before tucking into her breakfast.

Ulquiorra watched the girl eat with little interest, the only thought in his mind being, 'when will the girl return to normal?' There was always the chance that this was a temporary reaction and would revert on its own, though it was unlikely.

After several minutes the girl had managed to finish her breakfast. As Ulquiorra pushed himself off the island, the kitchen door swung open and a very large man stepped through.

"Ulquiorra!" the large man exclaimed upon seeing him.

Little Hime stared up at the Giant terrified. Letting out a scream, she jumped out of her chair and hid behind her guardian. "Ulqui! Don't let the Giant get me!" she cried, her eyes filming over with unshed tears.

Both Ulquiorra and Yammy looked down at the little girl in surprise.

"There is nothing to be afraid of, girl." He said tonelessly, though his words didn't seem to help as she buried her face in the back of his hakama. Closing his eyes he asked, "what is it Yammy?"

"I can't find my hollow puppy Ulquiorra!" he exclaimed, anger and sadness lacing his booming voice.

Ulquiorra opened his eyes and gave Yammy a look that seemed to say, 'you've got to be kidding me?'

Little Hime poked her head out from behind Ulquiorra's hakama, "Pu—puppy?" she squeaked.

"Yea! He got lost or ran away or somethin'!" He said solemnly, as if he had lost his best friend.

Ulquiorra had a feeling that he would not like where this conversation was going.

Little Hime peered up at the Giant from behind the Clown man. She could feel the sadness radiating off the Giant, and after a second glance, he didn't seem scary at all. Tugging on the hakama she said, "Ulqui! Can we go find the puppy? Peas?" she begged looking up at him with teary eyes.

Ulquiorra stared down at her, then he stared at Yammy, then he closed his eyes again, thinking 'Lord Aizen, help me.' He couldn't say no, or she'd start crying again, and he couldn't really leave the only other person that would put up with his stoic attitude, hanging out to dry. Feeling completely defeated and backed into a corner he gave in, "fine, we'll find his pet."

Still clutching the hakama in her hands, Little Hime started jumping up and down, beaming at him. "Yay! Gona find the puppy! Dank you!" she squealed. She couldn't have been more delighted. She was going to find a puppy and make a new friend! Releasing the Clown man she ran over to the Giant, her fear completely forgotten. "Let's find the puppy!" she exclaimed, smiling up at him.

Yammy let out a hardy laugh, "is this that woman Ulquiorra? What happened to her?"

Ulquiorra walked towards the door, "long story," was all he said.

"Okay little one, let's find my puppy!" he said, picking her up and setting her on his huge shoulders.

"Yay!" she clapped her hands as Yammy ducked to get underneath the door frame.

Catching up with Ulquiorra, Yammy informed him, "the last time I saw it was yesterday. I think. Mahbe one of the servants let it out."

"Let's head outside, maybe it tried to return to the wilds of Hueco Mundo," Ulquiorra suggested.

"Good idea, Ulquiorra!"

So the trio made there way outside of Las Noches, uninterrupted until they reached the ramparts.

"Oi! Ulquiorra, what the fuck you doin' out here? You never go outside!" A tall man jumped down from the high wall.

"We're searching for Yammy's pet, Nnoitra."

"I hope you're not referring to Pet-sama." Nnoitra grinned, walking towards the Cuatro Espada.

"SPOONY!" Little Hime exclaimed loudly, pointing at the tall mans odd hood.

Nnoitra jumped back, startled and brought Santa Teresa to bear. "What the fuck is this shit?" He pointed it the child, who just smiled and tried to grab the blade with her bare hands.

"That would be 'Pet-sama,' Nnoitra." Ulquiorra informed bluntly, as he pushed the dangerous weapon out of reach of the child.

"The fuck happened to her?" He demanded looking from Ulquiorra to the girl and back again.

"Accident in Szayel's lab," Ulquiorra surprisingly admitted.

Nnoitra leaned forward and leered at the child. "Tch. Leave it to that fag Szayel to ruin a perfectly good thing."

Little Hime stared at the oddly dressed man just a bit in front of her. She wasn't quite sure what to make of him. She thought he looked funny but got the feeling that she shouldn't want to talk to him or be near him. His aura felt…yucky.

Reaching forward she grabbed Spoony's hood and yanked it down over his face.

"What the fuck!" Nnoitra pulled his hood back to find the child hiding behind Yammy's thick neck, giggling.

"Potty mouth!" she scolded Spoony before ducking behind Yammy's large head once again.

Nnoitra swung Santa Teresa back as his lips flattened into a thin line. You could see the muscles in his jaw twitching as he ground his teeth while he desperately tried to repress the urge to kill the girl.

Little Hime peaked around the side of Yammy's neck and stuck her tongue out at him. She really didn't like the Spoon man. He said bad words and she didn't like the way he looked at her.

Ulquiorra observed this, slightly bemused. "If you are done bickering with the five year old, we'll be on our way."

Nnoitra growled as he slung his zanpakutou over his shoulder. Walking away from the group he called out over his shoulder, "try not to get sun burned, Ulquiorra." He said a smirk on his face.

Ulquiorra turned away from Nnoitra, astounded by his idiocy. "There's no sun in Hueco Mundo, trash." He countered, disdain lacing his voice.

Yammy threw back his head and howled with laughter at this, nearly throwing the little girl off.

Nnoitra stood off in the distance, his whole body shaking with rage before disappearing completely.

"What an idiot," Yammy voiced, "c'mon Ulquiorra, let's get going." He said, as he walked up to the tall, thick wall bordering Las Noches. The Diez Espada put his hand out and placed it firmly against the wall and offered it a bit of his reiatsu. The Sekkiseki wall absorbed it greedily before splitting down the middle, leaving a gap wide enough for Yammy to fit through.

The small group stepped through to the other side and immediately, the wall slammed shut behind them.

Ulquiorra stared out at the wastelands of Hueco Mundo. The landscape was ridden with rolling sand dunes and sparsely populated crystallized trees. He could see a weak dust devil, twisting about in the distance.

He walked forward a bit, his hair whipping across his face and mask as a dry gust of wind blew past him. Narrowing his eyes at the ground, he could vaguely make out the small tracks of an animal. "Yammy, we should follow these. They do not belong to any being within the walls of Las Noches besides your pet, or possibly one of Szayel's experiments."

Yammy nodded in agreement and the trio set off to follow the mysterious foot prints through the desert of Hueco Mundo.

After walking briskly for a couple hours, Ulquiorra paused. He closed his eyes and reached out with his mind, attempting to sense any heightened spiritual bodies. Across the landscape he could feel, rather than see, tiny pinpricks of spiritual energy, these represented small hollow critters. Some were a fraction larger and represented weak hollows. Furrowing his brow in concentration, he heightened his awareness and stretched the tendrils of his probing mind even further, finally able to pinpoint a medium sized spiritual body, representing an adjuchas.

"Adjuchas up ahead. Mask yourself so that we do not startle it so that it runs." Ulquiorra said before masking himself and stepping into sonido.

After several moments the trio appeared at the base of a fallen, crystallized trunk. It was lying on its side and seemed to have fallen a top a large sand dune, causing it to lie at a steep angle.

Ulquiorra jumped on to the crystallized trunk and made his way upwards to the end and peered over the edge.

Yammy glanced back at the child who was clutching his neck. Her eyes were shut tight and she was looking rather pale. "Uh, Ulquiorra? There's something wrong with the girl."

Ulquiorra turned around sharply and appeared before them. After scrutinizing her for a second he said, "The girl has a mild case of motion sickness. Just put her down while we attend to other matters." He said emotionlessly as he returned to his spot at the end of the trunk.

Nodding, Yammy put the girl down in the sand and joined his superior.

They both peered down over the edge of the trunk into what looked like a small den. It looked to have been recently used as the sand was disturbed and there were many sets of foot prints leading in and out of it. There was also what looked to be a small clearing for a fire that was lined with rubble and chunks of crystal.

"It seems to have run off. I had thought that masking our reiatsu would be enough to conceal ourselves." Ulquiorra said offhandedly as he knelt down and peered further over the edge.

"But it was 'ere right, Ulquiorra? My puppy?" Yammy asked.

Ulquiorra nodded, standing up and brushing off his knees. "It should have been. The tracks led here. We just mis—"

Giggling and laughter captured both Espada's attention.

Whipping his head around Ulquiorra sonidoed back to the base of the tree and dropped down into the sand.

Before him stood the girl, her orange hair blowing in the wind and a huge smile on her face. In front of her stood a girl of similar age and height, with sea green hair and a cracked mask atop her head with winding horns on the sides. They were both engaged in a game of patty-cake.

"An Arrancar?" Ulquiorra asked, surprised. He thought he had sensed an Adjuchas.

The Arrancar's gaze locked onto his and she stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. "Ulqui—Ulquiorra-thama!"

Little Hime glanced back at the Clown man and then to her new friend. She seemed really fearful of the Clown man for some reason though she couldn't see why. "Nel! What's wrong?" she asked, bending down to pick her friend up.

Ulquiorra's eyes widened in recognition, this small child was Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, formerly the Tres Espada before Nnoitra had supposedly killed her.

"Nel'th afwaid of Ethpada," the green haired girl said as she was pulled shakily to her feet.

"As you should be," Ulquiorra said as he advanced upon her, "you're supposedly dead." He said coldly.

Fearing for her new friend, Little Hime stood in front of her, blocking her from the Clown man's sight. "No hurt Nel!" she exclaimed, her lip trembling. She could vaguely feel the threatening aura the Clown man produced, though as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. Little Hime looked up at him, confused.

Yammy, who had been taking his time walking down the trunk, finally arrived and stood before the odd gathering. Noticing Nel, and being the dimwit he is, he asked, "you wouldn't have happened to have seen a hollow puppy around here, did ya?"

Glancing between her new friend and the two scary Espada, she replied, "Nel thaw puppy and Nel took careth puppy. Puppy wasth afwaid."

Ulquiorra closed his eyes, "where is it?"

Taking a deep breath and swallowing her fear she said, "thith way," and led them around the side of the fallen crystallized tree.

Once on the other side, they reached the small den.

From the ground they could see that it was deeper than they had originally thought. The owner of the den had dug down through the sand dune to beneath the crystallized tree and then through the roots to create a secluded cave, unreachable by the harsh winds of Hueco Mundo.

Nel walked inside and pushed a crystallized root out of the way revealing a small hole. She reached inside and after a moment withdrew with a small hollow puppy in her arms. "Thith the puppy?" She asked, looking up at the large Espada.

Yammy's eyes lit up at the sight of his lost companion, "Mullido!" He cried, scooping the hollow puppy out of Nel's arms, causing Nel to pout slightly. "Thank's little one for watchin' out for mah puppy 'ere." Yammy choked out.

"Yea! Dank you Nel!" Little Hime exclaimed, glomping the other child and throwing her off guard.

Nel's eyes widened as she struggled to get away. "Nel…canth…breathe…"

Ulquiorra watched the exchange exceedingly amused though he didn't show it. Here was the former Tres Espada, being attacked and overpowered by a mere five year old child. 'What a weak piece of trash.' He thought and was suddenly startled when that same five year old was suddenly hugging his legs.

"Dank you Ulqui for helpin' to find the puppy!" she beamed up at her guardian.

Ulquiorra stared down at her and was about to tell her to remove herself when Yammy piped up.

"Yea…Ulquiorra-sama, thanks for helping to find Mullido. I couldn't have done it without you. You know how terrible I am at sensing reiatsu and stuff." He said sincerely, rubbing the back of his head while he cradled the puppy with the other.

Ulquiorra looked between the two of them, words escaping him. Nobody had ever really thanked him for anything before, much less thanked him sincerely. He felt an odd, warm and light sensation floating within him. 'What is this feeling?' he wondered.

"Thath wath very kind of you, Ulquiorra-thama." Nel spoke up softly, garnering his attention. She smiled warily up at him.

"I see." He said, somewhat distracted as he looked down at the child Espada. 'This is what it feels like? When one performs an act of kindness, they feel…happy?' The emotion was confusing to him, though he could perform a test to see if his assumptions are correct.

"Nelliel Tu," he began, "be wary and stay away from Las Noches. There are others that will not be as lenient as I if they were to become aware of your existence." He said, looking down at the green haired child.

Nel beamed up at him, her mouth hanging open. Then after a moment she snapped it shut and clapped her hands together, jumping up and down and then bowing spastically, "Thank you, Ulquiorra-thama, thank you!" She cried. Once she straightened up she had tears in her eyes and had to wipe them away. "You're truly the motht merthicful Ethpada ever!" she exclaimed.

Ulquiorra stared down at the grateful child who seemed to be radiating just as much happiness as his charge. 'Now I'm merciful and kind?' he thought, even more confused than before. 'And the feeling didn't increase in intensity, maybe because I was expecting it?' He closed his eyes and sighed inwardly. 'These emotions are too alien to me.' He thought. "Come, we must return to Las Noches." He stated, turning away from the former Espada.

Yammy nodded and followed after him.

"Wait for me!" Little Hime cried, trying to catch up and struggling through the deep sand. Suddenly remembering her friend, she turned around and waved, "bye Nel!"

Nel waved back, "bye! Thee you later!"

Turning around, Little Hime ran to catch up and nearly ran into the Clown man. She looked up at him questioningly.

"Do you want to walk or do you want to sonido?" he asked, straight to the point.

Little Hime frowned, remembering how long it had taken them to find the puppy to begin with. Making up her mind she raised her arms, "Clown ride?" she asked tentatively.

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Chapter 5 teaser: Little Hime gaped at the small Arrancar. "What are you doing?" she asked, bending up to look at the man who had fallen back asleep on the arm of the couch.

"Elbow bombing." Lilynette said innocently as she elbow bombed Stark in the nuts once again, eliciting a small giggle from Hime.

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AN: Ok I know…it's a bit odd that they have a kitchen, a pantry AND refrigerator in Las Noches…but for the sake of the child. Let's just pretend they do ok? Lol. Besides I wouldn't be surprised if they did at least have a refrigerator, considering there are three shinigami and a scientist on the premises. Logically, Szayel would need one anyways to store all his Petri dishes, vaccines, blood etc.

Mullido = Spanish for 'Fluffy' lol I couldn't resist.

Also yes. I know. Yammy is COMPLETELY out of character, especially since his Aspect of Death is RAGE…but I just couldn't resist this. Big ol' badass giant dude crying over his lost puppy named Fluffy. Honestly the way I write him makes me think of him as the Arrancar version of Hagrid from Harry Potter. Lol

Cookie/Llama if you know what the Three Fold Law is and the moral/value it teaches ^^


	5. Mealtime Mishaps

Anon reviews:

Krazylol – Glad you like it so far! I plan to keep Yammy as is, definitely ^^ though I'm not sure bout the Hello Kitty thing…I'd pull out odd things like lucky charms for Hime but not for other characters xD

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Chapter 5: Mealtime Mishaps

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By the time they had returned to Las Noches, it was early evening. Ulquiorra and Yammy parted ways and Ulquiorra made his way towards the kitchen. The child had ended up missing her mid day meal and she was sure to be hungry.

He looked down at the girl in his arms who was currently sleeping, her head resting against his shoulder. Her face was calm and peaceful looking, completely unaware of the dangers that lurked around her. Blissfully ignorant of the fact that if it were not for Aizen's orders, the Arrancar would have killed her long ago. Ulquiorra detested the girl's naivety though he could no longer hold her at fault for it. After all, she was just a child. She could not see the aura of evil intent that many carried about them, some even brandishing it about pridefully, daring anyone to cross them.

Ulquiorra thought back to earlier in the day when the child had blatantly told off the Quinta Espada for his bad language and then proceeded to physically assault him. He couldn't help but be slightly amused at the Quinta's misfortune and the girl's innocent audacity.

Nearing the entrance to the kitchens, he slowed his pace and finally paused. Staring down at the girl clinging to him, he poked her shoulder, "Wake up, girl." He said, a thin veil of fatigue lacing his voice.

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter and buried her head in his shoulder, ignoring him.

He poked her harder, "Wake up. It is time for your evening meal." He said more firmly.

This time Little Hime stirred and opened her eyes, tiredly peering up at him. "Ulqui?" she asked in a quiet voice, still half asleep.

"Yes. It is time for your evening meal. I'm going to put you down now." He stated, slowly lowering her to the ground. Once her feet touched the solid surface, he let her go, aside from one hand on her shoulder to steady her as she swayed on her feet.

Little Hime stood still for a few moments as she rubbed her eyes and let them readjust. She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep but Ulqui was right, it was time for dinner. She was hungry!

"Are you ready, girl?" He asked as he removed his hand from her shoulder and made to open the kitchen door.

She nodded.

Ulquiorra pulled the door open and stepped inside, the child following close behind him.

Inside, he was surprised to find that the kitchen was not empty; in fact, it seemed as if half the Espada were present, along with several Fracción.

Leaning against the middle island were Nnoitra and Halibel, along with Nnoitra's Fracción, Tesla. In the back corner, Grimmjow was kicked back on a sofa, staring out the nearby window, his eyes distant and glassy. Stark was sitting on the end of the couch opposite Grimmjow, his head propped up on his hand, sleeping. In the front right of the room, around the large dining table, sat Gin and Aizen, drinking saki and conversing; probably going over their plot to destroy Soul Society. Loly and Menoly were close by, sneaking covert peeks at their leader.

"Come this way, girl." Ulquiorra order, ignoring the questioning stares of his superiors and subordinates.

Little Hime followed along behind Ulquiorra obediently, as she was still waking up from her brief nap.

Ulquiorra stopped before the freezer and swung it open, revealing a variety of reheatable frozen foods. "Pick something out to eat." He ordered, stepping aside so that the girl could get closer.

Little Hime stepped forward and gazed lazily at all the boxes. Some where red, some were blue, some were white. She couldn't read the letters on them so she decided to pick out the pretty yellow and white box; it reminded her of dandy lions. "That one!" she pointed in front of her.

Ulquiorra reached down and pulled out the macaroni and cheese tv dinner. "Go find a seat while I heat this up." He told her.

Little Hime turned around and started walking through the room. She passed the island and looked up into the green eyes of a lady with spiky blond hair. She seemed to be leaking a soothing, blue, wispy aura. Little Hime smiled up at the Lady as she walked by. Turning her gaze towards the dining table her eyes widened. "Onii-san!" she squealed happily as she raced forward and attached herself to the man's leg. She beamed up at him and basked in the man's warm aura.

"Good evening, Imoto-chan," Aizen greeted as he leaned forward in his chair to peer down at the child. "What brings you here this evening?"

(Imoto-chan = formal Little Sister)

"It's time for dinner!" she said excitedly.

"Is that so? Well then would you like to eat with your Onii-san this evening?" Aizen asked the child, earning him an approving smile from Gin.

Little Hime nodded her head enthusiastically as she thrust her arms out.

Aizen gave Gin a rather sinister smile as he bent down and picked the girl up underneath her arms, turning her so that she sat comfortably in his lap, resting his hands at her sides so she wouldn't fall.

The entire kitchen was oddly silent, aside from the excited babbly and squeals of the young child. Nnoitra shook his head and said nothing, as he continued to sip on the colorful drink he had mixed up. Tesla remained oblivious, as he only had eyes for his master. Halibel just leaned forward and popped her forehead up in her hand, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Grimmjow was still staring off through the window, in his own little world, and Stark remained blissfully asleep.

Loly on the other hand openly stared at the little girl, her eyes shown with envy and her face contorted in disgust. She practically hissed at the little girl as she clenched at the edge of the table, her knuckles turning white.

"Loly! Cut it out!" Menoly hissed, glancing fearfully at Aizen who seemingly had eyes only for the human in his lap.

Loly turned and glared daggers at her partner. "How could you be so calm! Look at that little human shit! She's moving in on Aizen-sama!" she hissed under her breath.

Menoly bit back a snicker. "Loly, she's just a child, a naïve, human child at that. What interest could she hold for Aizen-sama in that form?" she asked rationally. "If anything Loly, he only sees her as another mind to exploit. That's it."

"But Menoly!—"

"If you two are finished bickering and talking about me as If I am not here, I feel it would be best if you were to leave, or would you rather I make you leave?" Aizen said casually, still staring down at the child in his lap who was anxiously awaiting her meal.

"A—Aizen-sama!—"

Menoly stood, interrupting her partner, and bowed before their Lord and Master. "Forgive Loly Lord Aizen-sama. She knows not what she is saying, our sincerest apologies Master." With that she grabbed Loly by the arm and yanked her out of the kitchen just as Ulquiorra was making his way to the dining table.

Ulquiorra eyed the two Fracción threateningly as he carried over the small tray of food to the dining table. Turning his eyes forward he was surprised to see the girl planted firmly in his Master's lap. However the surprise quickly turned to confusion and tightly veiled concern.

"Clown!" Little Hime squealed as he approached, she smiled up at him.

He stood there motionless for a moment before Aizen spoke. "Ulquiorra-san, just place the tray in front of her, its fine." He suggested casually, eying the Cuatro Espada before him. He noted that his loyal subordinate seemed confused by his behavior with the child, which was to be expected. He knew his unexpected acceptance of the child would cause questions to surface that nobody dared ask.

"As you command, Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra replied emotionlessly, setting the tray and utensils in front of the girl before backing off respectfully and moving to lean against the wall next to the couch.

Ulquiorra watched the girl eat, and he watched Aizen watch the girl eat. He watched how the girl would consume her meal for a few minutes before leaning back to beam up at Aizen, the most powerful being in Hueco Mundo, as if he were really her 'Onii-san.' The child was so naïve, vulnerable, and he could see that Aizen was planning to take advantage of the fact. After all, the child no longer had memories of her own. What better chance to win her trust, devotion and affection?

At the thought of the girl possibly developing an emotional attachment to his Master in the future, his blood began to boil and his chest tightened. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists in his pockets as he tried to suppress the unfamiliar feeling that surged within him.

'What does one more pawn, one more marionette for Aizen to control, matter to me? Why is it that I feel this way?'

The girl let out a loud squeal as she announced to the room that she was done with her dinner.

Aizen chuckled at her, while Gin congratulated the small child.

Ulquiorra suddenly had the urge to rip the girl from Aizen's clutches and get the girl away from the duo, in a vain attempt to protect the child. He opened his eyes to level a glare at the back of his Master's head when the kitchen door swung open and an Arrancar entered in a blur of sonido. He was uncertain to whom it was until he was startled by a loud grunt from his right side.

"Time to wake up, Stark!" Lilynette giggled as she ground her elbow into her other half's groin area.

"What the hell Lil?" Stark groaned as he pushed the teen Arrancar away rather forcefully before covering his groin protectively.

Over at the dining table, Little Hime was trying wriggle out of her Ani's grasp. "Onii-san! Let me go, I wanna play!" she squealed. She looked up into her Ani's face and smiled at him.

(Ani = Informal for Brother)

Aizen smiled back at the child as he removed his hands and let her slide from his lap. He followed her with his eyes and she ran past the Cuatro Espada and stopped before Lilynette. The child seemed so at home in Las Noches with all memories of her past obliviated and forgotten. She was no longer that timid, quiet, woman he had met several months ago. No, she was now a rambunctious, naïve, child; perfect for manipulating. With that thought he turned his gaze back to Gin and signaled that he was leaving.

Little Hime gaped at the small Arrancar. "What are you doing?" she asked, bending up to look at the man who had fallen back asleep on the arm of the couch.

"Elbow bombing." Lilynette said innocently as she elbow bombed Stark in the nuts once again, eliciting a small giggle from Hime.

"God damn it Lil, this is getting old." Stark grumbled, glaring over at the duo as he protectively covered his crotch once more.

"Why?"

"Because it's funny and he's a lazy bastard." Lil said, plopping down on the couch beside Stark. Stark glared at her, but it melted into a smile only seconds later as he wrapped an arm around the small Arrancar.

Little Hime took a good long look at the brunette Arrancar who was now smiling down at Hime. He seemed very confident and emitted a soothing aura that made her want to take a nap. Blinking her eyes she tentatively asked, "Puppy?"

Stark chuckled at this. He found the innocent child refreshing and he was surprised that she could stand to be in his presence. "Nay, little one. Wolf would be more correct." He told her gently.

Little Hime gaped at him causing Lilynette to shake her head in exasperation. "Wolfie!" she exclaimed, smiling brightly up at the Primera Espada.

Stark smirked. "Yes, and that guy over there in the blue hair," he whispered, "is a kitty."

Little Hime went wide eyed and looked over to where Stark was pointing.

Grimmjow was still oblivious to it all. His head was now propped up in his right hand, elbow on the arm of the couch, as he gazed longingly out the window. He wanted to go prowling and he wanted to stalk hollow. After the incident with Ichigo in Karakura Town that had resulted in his arm being sliced off (and then the wound rejected later by the human woman) Aizen had forbade him from even stepping foot outside the Las Noches compound, and if Grimmjow still chose to disobey, his punishment would be death.

The mere thought of Aizen had Grimmjow seething, making his blood boil and his heart race. He wanted nothing more than to disembowel and—"KITTY!" Something squealed and pounced on Grimmjow, elbowing him in the groin, making his whole body writhe in agony. He could vaguely comprehend the fact that Nnoitra was hooting with laughter in the background as he cupped his pride protectively.

"What the fuck? Who the fuck did that?" he roared, lifting his head, darting his eyes back and forth frantically.

Ulquiorra pushed himself off the wall, readying himself to grab his charge as she kneeled on the couch next to the angry and injured Sextra Espada.

"Aww I'm sorry I didn't mean too!" Little Hime cried as she stared at the Kitty in shock. She had wanted the Kitty to cuddle up with her, like the Wolfie cuddled up with the small Arrancar after she had attacked him. She wasn't quite sure what she did wrong but she did know she made the Kitty mad and she felt horrible about it.

"I'm sorry, Kitty." The girl said, tears swimming in her eyes. Grimmjow hissed at the girl and was about to bring a hand back to knock her away when he saw that she was crying. He stared at her in shock, unsure of what to do, the soreness in his groin forgotten.

Little Hime stared at the Kitty through cloudy eyes. "I'm sorry, Kitty." She said again, wiping away her tears to see better. The Kitty was looking up at her with wide eyes and he seemed to be radiating a turbulent blue aura, the same blue as his spiky hair. She smiled as she stood up and reached forward to ruffle the Kitty's hair.

Grimmjow's shock quickly dissipated as his hair was ruffled, an odd feeling of contentment sweeping through him. 'That feels—hey what the hell is the kid doing?' he thought, knocking her hand away lightly and glaring down at her.

Little Hime was unperturbed though and immediately started doing it again. "Be nice, Kitty!" she scolded him.

Grimmjow scowled at the girl before leveling his gaze on Stark. "This is your entire fault you know. Don't think I didn't fucking hear you sick her on me. Bastard!" Grimmjow growled half heartedly as his body slowly relaxed and mind went contentedly blank again.

Stark smirked and Lilynette rolled her eyes at Grimmjow.

Ulquiorra slumped back against the wall once more, once he had ascertained that Grimmjow was no longer a threat to his charge. He watched the girl continue petting the Sexta Espada. He inwardly smirked at the image the two portrayed—it was almost, dare he think it, cute? One thing was for sure, Grimmjow's reputation will never be the same again.

Ulquiorra turned his gaze forward to watch Nnoitra. The Quinta Espada seemed overtly interested in the pair, and it wasn't long before he pushed himself away from the island and stalked over, followed by his ever present Fracción, Tesla.

"What ta fuck ya doin' GrimmKitty, lettin' Ulquiorra's little pet play with you like that?" Nnoitra said bending to look closely between the two.

'How dare he! That fuckin' bastard, I'll kill'm!' Grimmjow made to stand up but stopped midway as Ulquiorra spoke up.

Ulquiorra inwardly bristled at his comment, "The girl is nobodies pet but Aizen-samas, Quinta. I figured Aizen-sama had made the fact perfectly clear." He retorted crisply. In fact, Aizen had made it very clear, especially with the little display he had put on only moments before.

"Tch. What he doesn't know wont hurt'm." Nnoitra replied as he continued to gaze at the girl.

By this time, Little Hime had realized she had Spoony's unwanted attention and stood up on the couch to face him, her little hands on her hips and a glare on her face.

"And what is it you propose to do to the child in a room full of Arrancar that Aizen-sama wouldn't know about eventually anyway?" Ulquiorra shot back flatly, pushing himself off the wall.

Nnoitra glared over at Ulquiorra and ground his jaw uncertainly. The Cuatro Espada had a point, reluctant as he was to admit. That and the Cuatro doubled as the girls guardian, he was under Aizen's orders to protect her at all costs; that included protecting her against his comrades. He would have to wait to get at her another time. He turned back to the girl and smiled at her wickedly. "Just you wait, pet—" He began but was suddenly enshrouded in darkness.

"Spoony is a bad man!"

Grimmjow and Stark bust up in laughter as the Quinta fought to pull his hood back.

"Holy shit you got some balls Princess!" Grimmjow appraised.

Little Hime looked over at the Kitty with a blank face, "huh?" but she was suddenly picked up and was being whisked away from the kitchen via sonido.

"The Quinta Espada will not take lightly to have been humiliated in public twice." Ulquiorra scolded the child mildly. "As amusing as it was, it was an unwise move, girl."

Little Hime pouted but didn't say anything. Instead she focused on the task of not tossing up her dinner due to motion sickness.

Once back in their quarters, he put the little girl down and ordered her to clean herself and get ready for bed. He was about to toss off his jacket and fall into his own when he noticed a small stack of clothing on the table. Picking them up, he realized they were duplicate garments for the girl to wear. Taking one off the stack, he walked over and gave it to her, "here, clean clothing." He said by way of explanation.

Little Hime took it, "dank you." She said.

"No, it's 'thank you.' Now say it correctly." Ulquiorra ordered, wanting to teach the child how to say the phrase properly. Child or not, the improper use of grammar was gradually grating away on his nerves.

"Th—thank you." She said smiling, beaming up at him.

"Good girl." He appraised her turning away and leaving her to clean up.

He tossed his jacket on the desk chair, hung up his zanpakutou and fell forward onto his bed. Closing his eyes and letting out a sigh, he drifted off into a deep sleep.

* * *

"Lumina! Get me the flasks labeled Sub0372 and Sub0396 along with a vial of Sulfuric Acid and for FUCK SAKE DON'T BUMP INTO THE BURNER THIS TIME!" Szayel yelled at his Fracción from his work station. He had worked all through the day and now through the night, and he was tempted to close his eyes and take a momentary break to push away his anger and frustration though knew he could not. This stage of his experiment was at its most critical point and he could afford no distractions whatsoever.

To an outsider, Szayel's work station was chaos. He was surrounded by several waist high, multilevel metal tables. All of which were covered with empty or half filled vials of different colored substances, some of which steamed or bubbled viciously. The table Szayel was currently preoccupied with was occupied by several beakers of different colored liquids and a large Bunsen burner, over which sat a large flask. Inside bubbled a watery green liquid.

Ignoring his fatigue and the hair that continued to dangle dangerously in his face, Szayel picked up a small vial labeled Sub0318 and carefully, slowly, poured it into the hot flask. When the liquids combined the green turned to a bright acidic yellow.

Szayel let out an audible sigh. Wiping his brow, he pushed his now frizzy hair back and took a step back from his work station.

This was Szayel's fifty-second attempt at recreating the accident that had turned the human girl into a child and so far every single attempt had failed at this step. The liquids usually didn't combine right, resulting in an unexpected color or chemical reaction. No, according to his calculations, the experiment was going perfectly.

Taking a moment, he selfishly let his mind wander back to the girl, the child. She was an anomaly to him, one that he was determined to figure out. 'If only I could recreate the chemical reaction that caused the recession of her physical body without the recession of her mind…' a wide grin spread across his face as his amber eyes gleamed. 'Oh the fun I could have with my subordinates and superiors!' "Hee!" he laughed to himself as he practically bounced back to his work station.

"LUMINA! WHERE ARE THOSE FLASKS?" He roared as he eyed the yellow concoction above the Bunsen burner that was starting to smoke and bubble fiercely. Szayel pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated and annoyed with his Fracción. If they didn't hurry up, this experiment would be ruined, and he would not be happy!

"LUMINA!—"

"Coming Szayel Aporro-sama!" a large, round Arrancar yelled as it waddled through the doorway on the other side of the room. It carried two large flasks and a vial on a metal sheet which was being held precariously above its head as it tried to maneuver through the many tables, shelves and tubes strewn across the room. Lumina had almost reached him when she tripped over the cord to the Bunsen burner and the substance he had been working on tipped and spilt all over him.

Szayel looked down at himself in shock, completely oblivious the pain from the boiling, burning chemical on his skin. Bracing himself on the metal table before him, he tried to breathe, and could not. He tried to call out for his Fracción and he could not. After several moments his vision began to dim and he lost his grip on the table, slumping to the floor and falling into darkness.

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Chapter 6 teaser: Ulquiorra closed his eyes. Grimmjow's were wide and his mouth agape. The Quinta Espada, who had been glaring daggers at the child, couldn't hold back the ridiculous grin that spread across his face as he choked back a laugh.

Grimmjow glared across the table at him.

Tia rolled her eyes at the perverted man. "Mind in the gutter as usual."

* * *

AN: So so sorry for not updating! It's been a month I know, I'm not going to lie and make up BS excuses either. I'm a horrible procrastinator, and that's that! I do plan on finishing this fic though, no worries!

And I'm so bad…leaving with a cliffy….don't worry though I have Ch 6 done, I just can't post it till I finish Ch 7 ^^


	6. Meeting Madness

Chapter 6: Meeting Madness

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What seemed like minutes later, when in fact it had been several hours, Ulquiorra was woken up by the tilting of the mattress. He rolled over and was about to grab for Murcielago when he realized it was just the girl. He stiffened as she knelt next to him and narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?" he rasped, his voice slightly hoarse and dry.

Little Hime stared over at him and mumbled, "I had a nightmare."

Ulquiorra audibly sighed in exasperation. "If it was just a dream, then go back over on the couch, girl." He hissed, lying back down on his back.

"Peas? I'm afraid." She whispered, her voice noticeably shaking. She stared into his green eyes, pleadingly as her own begun to sting with tears.

Ulquiorra closed his eyes and ground his teeth. The affect her big watery eyes had on him just wasn't fair. He didn't want her to start crying or he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. And if he let her sleep next to him, he still wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. He took a deep breath and pushed it out, flaring his nostrils in frustration, but he could do nothing but give in.

He scoot over and flipped the covers back he had been laying on before he gestured for the girl to lie down. "Now go to sleep." He ordered, before laying back on the edge of the bed, staring up at the canopy of his four-poster. He felt the little girl crawl under the covers beside him and settle down. He looked away from the little being and closed his eyes, doing his best to ignore her gentle breathing as she fell asleep. However, as much as he tried to block it out, he soon found that his own breathing began to slow and it wasn't much longer till he too found himself drifting back off to a light slumber.

Ulquiorra awoke once more that morning, blinking his sleep ridden eyes to clear them. His mind was unusually foggy and he stiffened when he felt something pressed against him.

When he looked down, it was to find the child curled up in a ball against his side, still peacefully asleep.

He was momentarily annoyed as he glared down at her, until he remembered the night's events that led up to his current predicament.

She had had a nightmare and had begged him to let her sleep in his bed. When he had declined she had looked as if she might cry again so he had relented, less the flood gates open.

He sighed inwardly. Okay he was still annoyed, but more with himself for being so weak than the fact that the child was cuddled up against him, drooling on his pillow.

Propping himself up on an elbow, he stared at her, trying to decide upon the best method to wake her. After several moments of deliberation, he settled for poking her gently on the shoulder. Reaching out a long, slender, white hand, he poked her.

No reaction.

He frowned and poked harder still.

Again, no reaction.

"Girl!" One more poke.

This time she stirred, though instead of waking up, a small hand grasped the offending appendage and hugged it to her chest tightly as she buried her face deeper into the large pillow.

Ulquiorra glared at her. He tried to reclaim what was his but the girl held on tightly. Exasperated, he lifted his hand to the ceiling, dragging the child into an awkward standing position, effectively waking her.

Little Hime stared at him through bleary eyes. "Ulqui?" she asked, still unconsciously holding onto the Espada's finger.

"Let go of my hand." He ordered.

Whether by command, or the need to rub her sleepy eyes, he wasn't sure, she let go.

"Now, go get ready for your meal." He ordered as he removed himself from the bed to retrieve a clean set of clothing from his closet. Once the child had disappeared into the restroom he changed.

* * *

After she had finished her meal, Ulquiorra was in the process of escorting her back to his quarters when they were detained by a weak servant Arrancar.

"Ulquiorra-sama!"

Ulquiorra stopped abruptly when the small, thin, Arrancar dropped to its knees several yards ahead of him. He looked upon it with disdain as he waited patiently for the message to come. He ignored the child who was hiding behind him, peaking around his hip at the messenger.

"Lord Aizen-sama requests that all Espada join him for a debriefing in the meeting room at once!" The Arrancar spat out quickly, its head low, praying to his Lord that the Fourth Espada was in a good mood that day.

'Debriefing? For what?' Ulquiorra wondered as he inclined his head, dismissing the Arrancar. "You're dismissed."

"Thank you, Ulquiorra-sama!" It exclaimed backing away quickly before turning to sonido down the hallway and out of sight.

"Come." He ordered to his charge as he reversed directions and headed for the meeting.

Minutes later, Ulquiorra arrived at the meeting room and pushed the large double doors open, stepping inside.

He was neither first, nor last to arrive. Inside were the Trecera, Primera, Quinta, Sexta and Noveno Espada. He also noted that Lord Aizen and Commander's Gin and Tosen had yet to arrive. Striding forward, he took his usual seat at the back left of the long rectangular table, directly across from the Sexta and to the right of the Primera.

Little Hime tread tentatively behind her Clown guardian as she took in her surroundings. The room was dimly lit and the table tall. She couldn't see anything past the two Espada before her. However, she recognized the other Espada and nearly squealed at the sight blue hair. "Kitty!" she exclaimed, her eyes brightening as she bounded up to him.

Grimmjow sighed inwardly as he glared halfheartedly at the human child clutching at the edge of the table next to him. He didn't have to look around to know that he and the child had captured the attention of everyone present. Feeling the need to reassert himself after yesterday's little display, he said, "That's Sexta Espada Grimmjow-sama to you, little Princess." He reprimanded as he leaned over the child menacingly.

Ulquiorra suddenly had the urge to roll his eyes tough he repressed it immediately. 'Good luck with that, Sexta.' He thought.

Little Hime stared up at Grimmjow, slightly overwhelmed as she attempted to silently mouth the first part of his name.

Grimmjow watched the Princess of Las Noches for several moments as she stared down at the floor blankly.

Meanwhile, the Segunda, Septima and Diez Espada walked in and Aizen and his two shinigami partners arrived, taking their seats.

He was about to tell the human to go away when she looked up at him with a confused look on her face.

"Sexspada?"

At this, the already silent room became that much quieter. All eyes were set upon the completely innocent girl in front of them.

Ulquiorra closed his eyes. Grimmjow's were wide and his mouth agape. The Quinta Espada, who had been glaring daggers at the child, couldn't hold back the ridiculous grin that spread across his face as he choked back a laugh.

Grimmjow glared across the table at him.

Tia rolled her eyes at the perverted man. "Mind in the gutter as usual."

"Tch, you know it Tia." Nnoitra leered at the Trecera, who crossed her arms across her chest, glaring at him. He smirked.

Aizen was sitting in his chair at the head of the table, and Gin at his right hand, both wearing rather unnerving grins.

Grimmjow returned his attention to the child, "How 'bout Grimmjow?" He asked hopefully, trying to detract from the girl's innocent blunder and awkward situation.

Tearing her eyes from the still chuckling Spoony, Little Hime stared up at the blue haired kitty. "Grimmy?"

Grimmjow sighed, running his fingers through his hair, "yeah, whatever." He said, giving up.

Little Hime held her arms out to him expectantly.

Grimmjow stared down at her as Ulquiorra repressed a smile. Finally someone else was on the receiving end of the girl's attentions.

The Sexta stared down at her in vague disbelief. 'Is she…really? Fuck….' He was silently weighing his options when the door opened once more to admit the last to arrive, the Octava Espada.

Lord Aizen stood from his seat to peer over the end of the table as the rest of the room remained oppressively silent.

Little Hime turned to see what they were all looking at when her eyes fell upon a child with shockingly pink hair.

"Pinky?" she asked.

His amber eyes locked onto her steel grey though a millisecond later, he was striding forward confidently before elegantly dropping to the flood on bended knee. "My sincerest apologies for my tardiness, Lord Aizen-sama. There were a few…problems, in the lab that I had to deal with," he said evenly, making sure to keep the tinge of embarrassment from tingeing his usually confident and disdainful voice which was now a few octaves higher.

Aizen arched an eyebrow. "Indeed. Care to elaborate?" From his perspective, it was quite obvious what said problems were, though Aizen wanted to hear it for himself, especially if it had anything to do with what happened to the human girl.

Still bowed over so that his pink head was barely visible from Aizen's end of the table, Szayel went on. "Last night –"

"Please, Szayel-san. Stand." He ordered, not liking the fact that he couldn't see his subordinate and felt as if he was listening to the door—floor.

Closing his eyes for a second, Szayel sighed inwardly before quickly straightening up and casually flipping his chin length pink hair out of his face. Locking eyes, he clasped his tiny gloved hands in front of him and peered over the edge of the table. He continued. "Last night it seems I have found the correct combination of substances that had turned our honored guest into a child. It is my pleasure to inform you that I am well on my way to discovering the cure." He finished.

"You recreated the accident."

'Yes I recreated the accident you imbecile!' he thought irritably but instead he said, "Yes, Aizen-sama."

Aizen leaned back in his chair, appearing thoughtful, "thank you, Szayel-san. Please, take your seat and we will begin out meeting with a bit of tea."

Szayel bowed once more before quickly making his way around the table. Ignoring the stares and smirks of amusement at the scientist's misfortune, he pulled himself atop his seat and stood with his arms on the table in front of him, hands clasped. He glared down his nose at each of the Espada, daring them to voice their amusement. He knew they wanted nothing more than to laugh at him. Despite the experiments success, the accident and his obvious transformation completely overshadowed all satisfaction he'd derived from it.

After several terse moments of silence, Szayel relaxed his posture the tiniest fraction and sighed inwardly, relieved that he'd managed to get so far without his mask slipping and his body betraying him. He was congratulating himself on his performance when a small hand tugged at the edge of his Hakama.

Szayel immediately sent daggers at whatever pest had dared disturb him.

"Pinky-chan?" Little Hime asked, taking a step back when she sensed the angry red aura pulsating out of the pink haired child.

Szayel's eyes softened a fraction upon seeing who said pest was. "Inoue-chan." He inclined his head to her ever so slightly and turned back to the table as tea was served.

However, Little Hime would not be ignored. Taking a step forward, she put her hands on the chair and pushed herself up.

Szayel felt something bump against the side of his abdomen and nearly bit his tongue off in an attempt not to yelp as a shock of surprise coursed through him. However, he could not prevent his body's knee-jerk reaction of jumping away, nearly causing him to fall off the chair.

Little Hime straightened up and beamed at him before propping her own arms up on the table and clasping her hands. She was completely oblivious to the fact that she had punctured the child scientist's personal space bubble.

Sending daggers at the insufferable child, Szayel gracefully resumed his previous position as if nothing had happened.

"Hi, Onii-san!" Little Hime waved at her brother.

The tea having finished being served, Aizen picked up his cup, giving the go ahead for the others to do so as well. "Konichiwa, Imoto-chan." He greeted the child back, as if she were really his younger sister. Taking a sip of his tea he set it down.

"Now, the reason I called you all together this morning is because we have uninvited guests in Hueco Mundo." He signaled to Tosen who flipped a switch at the back of the room.

The middle of the table opened up revealing a holographic projector. A picture sprang to life depicting two humans and a shinigami running across the sands of Hueco Mundo.

While Aizen went on to explain who and what they were, Little Hime stared transfixed at the image. For some odd reason, she felt as if she knew those people. She frowned and reached forward, jabbing a finger at the orange haired figure. She gasped and pulled back when her finger went straight through him.

Ulquiorra watched this with well concealed interest, pretending to be captivated by the hologram, when in fact he was staring through it. He took note that the girl didn't seem to remember either of them. 'Had her memories been wiped permanently?'

Grimmjow suddenly stood up and headed towards the exit, tearing Ulquiorra from his thoughts. He stared at the Sexta with a mix of hidden exasperation and disdain and was about to call him trash, however Aizen spoke up before he could.

"Where do you think you're going Sexta Espada? I have not dismissed you yet."

Grimmjow stopped, only turning his head to look at the brunette shinigami out of the corner of his eye. "Tch, I'm going to take care of the pest problem for you, Aizen-_sama_." He ground the title out through clenched teeth. All he really wanted was to pay back that orange haired bitch for his scar and now his _Master _had to go and ruin it by saying something.

Aizen stared coldly back at the insubordinate Espada, not a single flicker of emotion betraying his features. He was about to reprimand him for his lack or respect when a small voice broke the silence.

"Onii-san?" Little Hime squeaked, her hand rose reluctantly to get her Brothers attention. She was afraid of the menacing aura that was suddenly whipping about her Brother, and hoped he wouldn't be mad at her, but she had to say something.

Aizen stared a few seconds longer at Grimmjow, his reiatsu lashing out at him in warning, letting the Espada know they were not done, before turning his gaze to the little girl. "Yes, Imoto-chan?" He asked, his voice deceptively sweet.

"I need to go potty." She said quietly, not quite meeting his eyes.

Ulquiorra closed his eyes and readied himself for the menial task of escorting the child to the restroom, but before he could say anything, Tia Halibel had stood up to address their Master.

"If I may, Aizen-sama, I will take care of the human child. My quarters are the closest, as you well know." She offered respectfully.

Aizen readily agreed and dismissed her with a wave of his hand, his face as condescending as usual, his eyes locking back onto Grimmjow.

"If you'll come with me then, Inoue-chan."

Little Hime smiled up at the dark skinned Lady thinking she was the most beautiful Lady she's ever seen. "Okay Lady!" With that she bade her good byes. "Bye Onii-san!" She waved at her Brother before turning to Pinky.

To Szayel's complete mortification, the human child closed the already tiny gap between them and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Bye Pinky-chan!" she exclaimed as she jumped down from the chair, leaving the flustered Espada in her wake.

Ulquiorra glared over at Szayel as the child bounced away, his muscles tightening as he watched the child scientist attempt to diffuse the blush that resolutely began to color his cheeks. He new the naïve child's action had been completely innocent, and the Octava knew this was well, though neither Espada could help the feelings that began to simmer within them.

Jealousy and confusion began to preoccupy Ulquiorra thoughts whereas the Octava was attempting to cover up the compounding humiliation he felt.

Szayel glared daggers at the table, his mind racing as he clasped his gloved hands together unnecessarily hard. He began running through different theories and calculations regarding his current experiment in an effort to prevent the heat that threatened to creep up into his cheeks. He felt he had succeeded until a light chuckle startled him from his thoughts. He glared at the one who dared laugh at him and visibly cringed.

"It seems as if you have an admirer, dear Szayel-chan." Aizen teased the scientist, observing how the child Espada tensed at this statement and color flooded his already tinged cheeks, his anger over Grimmjow's insubordination temporarily forgotten.

The other Espada took this admission as a good ahead to join in the laughter. Grimmjow took this opportunity to slink back into his seat, unnoticed, though he couldn't help the grin that cracked across his face. Ulquiorra remained as impassive as ever, brooding on his own reactions.

"Pinky-chan? Admirer?" Nnoitra jeered, nearly falling out of his chair as he doubled over in laughter. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, had seen, it was too good to be true. The scientist has screwed up, big time, and he would milk this for all it was worth.

Szayel grit his teeth as his face burned with embarrassment. However he was already going over in his mind just how long he had before he found a cure and how much of each material he would need in order to duplicate the physically recessing substance several times over. He bit the inside of his of his cheek to prevent the smile that threatened to escape that promised revenge for his comrades and superiors. However, that did not prevent the vindictive gleam that lingered in the back of his amber eyes.

* * *

Chapter 7 Teaser: "If I may have a moment of your time Ulquiorra-sama." Szayel called, causing Ulquiorra to stop.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you would take a few minutes to spar with me."

* * *

A/N: Very sorry for the late update. Even though this chapters been written for a month I haven't put it out because I've been working on seven. And you know how I like to do teasers ^^ I had to get a good chunk of seven done before I was able to publish this.

Anyways…

I'm having…trouble writing. I know the plot and everything I want to do. But I'm falling out of the Ulquiorra loving crowd into the Szayel loving crowd and that's given me a bit of writers block. Sometimes I sit down to write and it starts leaning towards SzayXHime and I have to stop. I refuse to allow this fic to go in that direction, which is why chapters are taking so long to get out. Nevertheless, please bear with me. In the coming chapters, Szayel plays a rather large role, and despite any interactions that happen between him and Hime…they will be completely innocent, nothing more. This fic will remain UlquiXHime. I repeat...this fill will remain UlquiXHime. lol

But you're all like…'why can't Hime and Ulqui interact like that?' well….Ulqui's not in a five year old body. That'd be borderline child molestation. I'm not going there. Lol

Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter ^^


	7. Bracelets and Bruises

Chapter 7: Bracelets and Bruises

Warning: I apologize. This chapter starts out deceptively sweet but takes a rather dark turn later which seriously boarders on the T/M rating line. There's a bit of language and abuse involved, but it's needed. Please don't be offended by what you read later ^^;

* * *

Tia looked back over her shoulder for what seemed like that umpteenth time and sighed. The Tercera was known for her unwavering patience. She had to have patience for all the innuendo and advances on her body she had to put up with, especially from a certain Espada. However, the child seemed to be taking her sweet time in following. Or maybe it was just the child's short legs versus her adult ones. Either way, it was beginning to wear on her.

"Hurry up child." She scolded slightly, he lip tipping up as the child appeared to take the reprimand at heart as she jumped and ran quickly to catch up. "Come on, it's not much further." Tia said in a light tone once the child was by her side.

"Okay Lady!"

"Tia." She corrected.

Little Hime frowned but said nothing as they had come to a stop at the large door. Tia pushed it open and gestured for the girl to go inside.

"Halibel-sama!" a feminine voice squealed from inside.

"You're back from the meeting early!" Another voice said happily.

As Little Hime walked inside a third voice said, "That's not Halibel-sama."

Little Hime looked around and spied the owners of the voices. One of which who had midnight blue hair and a red ring around her left eye, was kicked back on the sofa in the middle of the room. Another dark skinned Arrancar was sitting at a vanity. The third who had long, straight, black hair, accompanied by even longer sleeves, was peering at her from a window seat from across the room.

"It's that human brat." The one on the couch sat up throwing her legs over the edge, glaring over at the child. "What are you doin' here?"

"She's here to use the restroom." Tia said matter-of-factly as she walked inside the room behind the girl.

"Why ain't Ulquiorra-sama taking care of the human?" the Arrancar at the vanity asked.

"The meeting has yet to be concluded." The Espada informed.

Little Hime looked past the dark skinned Arrancar to the vanity and her eyes bugged. She squealed and ran over to it. She ooed at all the pretty jewelry on the vanity.

Mila-rose smirked. "Hand's off girlie."

Little Hime pouted but continued pouring over the shinies anyway. The vanity was jam packed full of trinkets, necklaces, bracelets and rings all made of various crystals and stone. A discarded box that lay halfway open caught her eye. She was about to reach over and grab it for closer inspection but before she could reach it, her hand was smacked away. She gave a squeal in protest and glared at her attacker.

"What did I just say?"

"Now, now Mila-rose, the child is just looking." Tia reprimanded her Fracción causing the Arrancar to give a pout of her own.

Tia reached over and took the box, tossing the lid aside. Taking out the intricate bracelet, she thrust it at the human girl as if she would rather not touch it longer than she had to.

Mila-rose giggled at her Master's obvious discomfort.

Little Hime looked down at the bracelet, surprised. The length of the bracelet consisted of a thick, shiny, black cord. The cord itself was tied at the ends and was threaded through a handful of polished Arrancar bone and crystallized reishi beads. She beamed up at the Lady. "It's pretty!

Tia snorted, "take it if you like it." She said as she bent down to tie it securely around the child's wrist.

"It's not as pretty as you Lady." Hime said matter of factly.

The Espada started at the child's honesty before allowing herself a small smile. Maybe she could start liking the kid after all.

"But Halibel-sama, Nnoitra-sama will be mad!"

At this Tia snorted again, "Apacci you know better than to think I actually care about what that pervert thinks." She bent down and smiled at Little Hime. "Now, why don't you go use the restroom, that's what you're here for, ne?"

Hime nodded, suddenly feeling the reason she had been brought there in the first place. Scurrying off to the restroom, she left the Espada and her three Fracción alone.

In response to the Espada's careless remark, the Fracción sitting on the window seal pushed off to join the small group. "Will you care if Nnoitra-sama gets angry with the girl for wearing it?" she asked quietly, afraid to overstep her bounds.

"Then I'd have to kill him." She dead panned.

The three Fracción stared at their Master, unsure as to whether she'd been serious or not. They knew that she couldn't stand the Quinta Espada though they never thought she would take it that far. Apacci opened her mouth to question her seriousness when the restroom door opened and the human girl reemerged.

Ignoring her Fracción's stares, Tia motioned for the child to follow and they set off back towards the meeting room.

By the time they arrived, the room was filing out, so Tia crossed her arms and waited patiently against the wall for the Cuatro to emerge, however she was slightly surprised when the Octava Espada joined them. Tia looked down at the child scientist and nodded in greeting.

Szayel returned the greeting almost amiably and settled in on the wall next to them to wait. By now his skin had returned to its usual fair tone and his sinister yet much less intimidating mask was in place. He was still secretly fuming about his earlier embarrassment and going over his plot for revenge when Inoue-chan approached him.

Little Hime beamed up at him, as he was still a good nine inches taller than she.

"Pinky-chan, look at what the Lady gave me! Isn't it pretty?" she asked enthusiastically waving her wrist in front of the miniature scientist.

Szayel stared at the bracelet for a moment, his previous thoughts temporarily forgotten as he inspected the object proffered to him. "Yes, I suppose it does have a certain charm to it, doesn't it?" He smiled down at the child with false warmth before shifting his eyes to Halibel, narrowing them suspiciously. "Do you think it wise to give the child such a gift? Seeing as it was crafted for you only, by a certain Espada? He'd be severely displeased, Ulquiorra-sama as well should he find out."

"Find out about what, Octava?" Ulquiorra asked flatly as he walked out of the room.

Tia sighed, uncrossing her arms to gently lift the child's wrist to show Ulquiorra the intricate bracelet attached. "I gave her this without really thinking about the consequences of doing so, though I'm afraid its too late to take it back now, she rather likes it."

As if to accentuate this fact, Little Hime waved her wrist in the Clowns face, beaming up at him and squealing merrily. "Look at what the pretty Lady gave me! Isn't it pretty!" She was so excited about it. She loved presents; especially pretty little trinkets like the one on her wrist. Despite her obvious happiness at receiving such a gift, her Clown didn't look happy. In fact he looked angry, his normally calm aura turbulent. Reluctantly, Little Hime withdrew her wrist, a frown marring her once delighted face.

"That was not very wise Tercera. Should a certain Espada see this he would be most displeased and most likely take his anger out on my charge." He stated this icily, his green orbs narrowing a fraction of a millimeter before turning his gaze back to the child. "You will take that off."

Little Hime pouted up at him. "You don't like it?"

"No I do not. Take it off."

"But I don't want to!"

Impatient, Ulquiorra reached for her wrist, ready to rip it off himself, though before he could do so the child darted behind his superior and peeked out from behind her, a glare on her face.

Tia chuckled at the child's reaction, and the similar glare the duo currently wore. "It looks as if your personality is rubbing off on her, Ulquiorra-sama."

Szayel grinned up at the Tercera, silently congratulating her on a barb well done while he attempt to old back the chuckle the threatened to escape.

"What?" Ulquiorra tore his gaze from the petulant child at stare oblivious at the Octava and Tercera.

"Nothing, Ulquiorra-sama." Tia said innocently, smirking at him.

"Fine. Let it be known that should anything befall the child as a result of your 'gift' the punishment will fall on you." Ulquiorra turned on his heel and strode off, unamused by the entire situation and new threat it presented. "Come child."

Little Hime looked at him as he walked away, the pout back on her face, torn between staying with the pretty Lady and following after her guardian.

Tia sensed the child's reluctance and pushed her forward lightly by her shoulder. "Follow him child, before he gets even grumpier." She said this quietly so that the retreating Espada couldn't hear her.

Little Hime nodded up at her understanding, a smile reappearing on her face. "Okay Lady!" She lunged forward and grabbed onto her hakama and hugged her legs before running off. "Love you bye bye!"

Tia watched her go, shaking her head bemusedly. "That child is crazy."

Szayel nodded in agreement before excusing himself. "Indeed. If you'll excuse me I must catch up, there is something I must inquire of the Cuatro regarding the cure." He said this smoothly, lying through his teeth as he sonidoed off, reappearing several yards behind the duo.

"Ulquiorra-sama, if I may have a moment of your time?" Szayel asked respectfully, standing with his hands clasped behind his back.

Ulquiorra paused, turning his head a fraction to look at the child scientist with his peripheral vision indicating that he had his moment.

Little Hime stood beside him, looking between the two expectantly.

"I was wondering if you would assist me. I am curious as to what effects this temporary disability will have on my power and abilities. I was hoping you'd take a little time and spar with me, so that I may test them out." He waited, inwardly anxious. He'd never admit it out loud, but secretly the Cuatro had always intimidated him. The thought of seriously sparring with him...was not something he'd thought he'd ever consider before.

Ulquiorra looked bored as he replied, his tone indifferent. "Why can't you find another to help you? I am busy." He wasn't, not really. It wasn't difficult to watch and care for a child, he just didn't want to participate in one of the Octava's experiments.

"Ah. I thought you may ask that. Unfortunately, you're my only option, the only one I could remotely rely on not to seriously harm me during the duel. As you well know, Aizen-sama needs me to find the cure for the child. Should some disastrous fate befall me that would become difficult, if not impossible." He said this at length, going quiet to allow his superior to respond. It was a difficult argument to refute. They both needed him.

"And why is it so important for you to learn this now?"

Szayel laughed mockingly, surprise written plainly on his face. "Ha! You of all people should realize Ulquiorra-sama. How would you feel if you were in my place? It would be a cruel, cruel fate to go into battle ignorant only to find out then that your power had been weakened or completely disappeared? This ignorance is a weakness, one I will not permit to exist. I must know how far this accident has disabled me."

Ulquiorra nodded, conceding his point reluctantly, though his eyes simmered at the mocking disrespect his subordinate displayed. "And? If your power is gone. What would you do? If it becomes permanent you may lose your rank as an Espada."

A shadow crossed Szayel's face at the thought though it quickly disappeared beneath a sure, arrogant mask as he drew himself up to his full height of forty-six inches. "This will not be permanent and I will take…precautions. So what say you, Ulquiorra-sama? Will you assist me in ridding myself of this exploitable weakness? This…distasteful ignorance, I currently possess."

Ulquiorra stood there silently as he contemplated his answer. It was true he would not harm the Octava, but that didn't mean he would assist him. Yes, an exploitable weakness was something that he'd never permit, but as it wasn't his weakness, it wasn't his problem. However, as he was about to answer he felt a rough tugging coming from the left side of his hakama. He looked down to find Little Hime vying for his attention.

"Can I go play with Pinky-chan? Pleas!" She looked up at him with big watery eyes.

Ulquiorra closed his own eyes with a sigh, those damnable eyes again, the ones he's seen earlier that morning when the child had come to him with a nightmare tailing her. He could deny her, but it would be so much simpler not to.

Szayel looked upon the duo with interest, unclasping his hands from behind his back as he cocked a hip. He crossed his arms before he readjusted his glasses and watched in disbelief as Ulquiorra closed his eyes in a sigh.

Without saying a word, the Cuatro Espada turned around and walked right past Szayel, heading towards the training center. 'The things I am doing for this girl…' After several moments he paused to glance back over his shoulder to see Szayel rooted to the spot in disbelief and the child running after him, a huge smile plastered on her face.

"Coming?" He asked of the Octava.

'It seems as if I'm not the only one the child is starting to have an affect on. Myself, Halibel…Ulquiorra. Who next?' Szayel thought as he turned on his heel and followed after the Cuatro Espada with a burst of sonido. When he appeared along side the Espada, the child gave out a squeal of surprise, causing Szayel to grin. To outsiders, it may seem as if he was attempting to show off to the girl, though the truth was far from it. Earlier he had been pleasantly surprised to find that he was still able to use that particular ability, and continued to do so. He had just used it to catch up to the Espada as he refused to give him the pleasure of seeing him attempt to catch up indignantly on such short legs. Now, his curiosity was piqued and he wanted to find out if he would continue to be able to use his other abilities in this form as well.

The trio continued for several minutes without interruption until they were nearing an unusually small, plain, metal door.

Without waiting, Ulquiorra pulled the door open and strode inside the training facility, Szayel and Little Hime falling in directly behind him. Turning toward the child he kneeled down in front of her to make sure he had her attention before pointing over to the wall near the door.

"Stand there." He said this in firm don't-question-me voice.

She stared up at him and pouted, "but I wanna play too!"

Fortunately for Ulquiorra, Szayel took this opportunity to speak up and stole Little Hime's attention for himself as he leaned forward and peered at her, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Clown and I are going to go play. If you be good and stand by the wall, we can do something fun later, okay Inoue-chan?"

He grimaced slightly as she beamed up at him, excited by what the mysterious 'fun' would be. His intent was to get her to his lab and run a few screenings on her, but now…He sighed and turned away from her, facing the Cuatro as he waited for her to stand by the wall.

Ulquiorra watched as the miniature Espada faced him from several feet away. The Octavas face was drawn and he could discern a flicker of trepidation from behind his eyes. As well as it should be, the child scientist was facing off with the fourth most powerful Espada in Las Noches.

"What is it you intend to do, Octava?" Ulquiorra asked, his voice flat and unconcerned.

"Ah. I need to test my physical strength, agility, dexterity, and endurance. After that I need to analyze the power of my reiatsu. Such as how powerful my cero blasts currently are, if I can release and what abilities I am able to use then." This was said with a nonchalant air, as if his heart wasn't beating erratically at the thought of facing off with the Cuatro Espada. As if he wasn't replaying again and again in his mind the various ways he could die at the hands of his superior.

Szayel took a deep breath and cleared his mind, knowing he was being completely irrational. Ulquiorra wouldn't purposefully harm him, he couldn't. It was at this thought that he allowed himself to relax, his calm mask falling into place.

Ulquiorra watched this as well, completely detached and still slightly bemused as to why he was participating. It wasn't as if the scientist posed much of a threat, if anything, the events that unfold may be somewhat amusing, and he wouldn't even have to do anything.

"Also, I'd prefer if you did not reveal anything you might see here to the i_others/i_. I'm catching enough grief over my predicament as it is, they don't need to know just how far…this accident, has…disabled me. There are those that would gladly—." He cut off and looked away from the Cuatro, folding his small arms across his chest to push his oversized glasses back up the ridge of his nose, his cheeks tingeing pink. There were some things best left unsaid.

"Even so," he continued, "If they tried, they'd live to regret it. As would you, should anything learnt here leave this room." He returned his gaze to the Cuatro, his amber eyes fierce and expression threatening; or as threatening as one could make a child glare.

"I have no intention of revealing anything that may inadvertently harm you. As you pointed out earlier, Aizen-sama needs you to find the cure for the child. Should you come to harm, that would be delayed or made impossible."

Suddenly Ulquiorra appeared before Szayel, his eyes cold, dispassionate and glaring down at him. "However that does not give you the right to speak to your superiors in such a threatening manor." He shot his arm out, lightening quick, aiming to knock the Octava back though not seriously injure, however the child scientist had disappeared, having sonidoed behind the taller Espada.

Szayel laughed, a sound that was unnervingly melodious yet would have sent chills down the spines of any lesser beings had they been present.

"It seems I still have my agility." He said this smugly, a cheshire grin on his face and hands laced behind his back. It didn't come as much of a surprise to him; after all, he was a good two feet shorter than his original height, maybe a bit more. It would make sense for his agility to have increased. As he waited for the emotionless Espada to turn and face him once more, he excitedly wondered what else, if anything, of his power and abilities have improved. Never one to let his guard down, Szayel tensed, ready to spring away should he strike once more; when Ulquiorra turned slowly to face him, his amber eyes narrowed expectantly.

Ulquiorra stood there, his face its usual mask and hand in his pocket while he silently reevaluated the child Octava before him. It had appeared that with his decrease in size, his agility had increased as well, though whether instinctively or by some hunch, he knew his power would not be the same.

Quietly, he withdrew Murcielago, secretly enjoying the look of surprise that flitted across the smaller Espada's face as he did so; reveling in how the small child scientist's skin paled at the realization of what he was truly up against. Yes it was true Ulquiorra's Aspect of Death was Emptiness. Sometimes however, he felt he was more suited to Despair, the Quinta's Aspect. And as he watched comprehension dawn upon Szayel Aporro Granz face, he was reminded of this fact.

Without warning he was upon the Octava, swinging Murcielago down at half force.

Szayel didn't have time to move, all he could do was react as fear and adrenaline coursed through him. Reflexively he withdrew Fornicarus and blocked the fierce attack…only to be thrown back fifty feet and smack into the sekki sekki stone wall. His grin was gone now, instead replaced by a grimace as he fought to remain conscious and evaluate what had just happened.

His entire body felt bruised and battered. His head pounded where it had smacked the wall behind him and as he blinked open his eyes, it seemed he'd made a crater in it. He pursed his lips, grabbing Fornicarus which lay discarded at his side and pushed himself out of the rubble, though he couldn't help but release a pained groan as he did so. That one attack from the Cuatro…it was all that was needed for him to deduce that if he hadn't blocked when he had, he might be dead right then; even though he could tell his superior was holding back. Szayel's power…it was halved. He should have been able to hold his ground with the amount of effort he put in it. His reaction was instinctive after all, his power fueled and boosted by adrenaline. Yet he'd been flung fifty feet into a wall.

The realization felt like a lead weight settling in the pit of his stomach.

Szayel hobbled over to the Cuatro with as much dignity as possible before stopping several yards ahead of him. He met his superior's eyes almost defiantly. Just because he had the appearance of a child and his power halved in this form, did not mean he was any less of an Espada. Though reluctantly, he would admit to himself he did ask for that lashing. Threatening the Cuatro was never the best idea under any circumstance; and it was at this thought he barely inclined his head in acknowledgement, conceding his superiors point and reprimand, as much as it pained him and his pride to do so. He was in no position to argue the point anyhow. Not in his vulnerable weakened state.

The thought caused his defiant gaze to harden, the cruel reality of his situation settling in upon him. If anyone found out he couldn't defend himself in this state…well, nobody could find out, he wouldn't give them the opportunity to. He'd have to play it safe, stay in the confines of his laboratory working on the cure. There, he was protected. Nobody could take advantage of his weakness. Drawing a deep breath, he resolved himself to his temporary fate and waited for Ulquiorra to indicate he was ready to continue.

Ulquiorra brushed off the reluctant admittance his subordinate displayed and instead sheathed his sword, ready to leave. Though it was obvious from his subordinate's body language and attitude he wished to continue on. However, it was unsafe for the girl to be there. To be in the presence of such spiritually empowered beings that were, for lack of a better term, sparring. As the girls designated guardian, it was his obligation to prevent accidents from occurring.

"If that will be all, we must be going. It is not safe for the child to be here."

He made to leave but was stopped when the Octava held up a hand, asking him to wait.

"I agree with you that it is unsafe for our guest to be here, however, I have two more things I'd like to test before you leave. I must release and test the power of my cero, and analyze the power of my special abilities, if you'd allow me to."

A flicker of impatience crossed Ulquiorra's face at these words. He didn't want to wait. He didn't want to help the scientist in his experiment to begin with, yet he had, as it made the child easier to deal with; being agreeable to her whims. Yet the longer he stayed there, the more likely something would befall her, and the blame would be squarely placed on him.

He glanced over at his charge who watched them closely; her eyes alight with interest and excitement; though a small pout had formed on her lip. Whether because they had stopped, or because he'd sent the Octava flying, he couldn't tell.

Sighing inwardly he turned back to the scientist and nodded his head, indicating he should continue. He silently swore that if anything should happen to his charge because of this, he would have 'words' with the child scientist later.

He watched as the Octava released, merging with Fornicarus without his usual prerelease show. He noted this with something akin to amusement in his green orbs.

Like all Arrancar, after they were created, their names revealed and their zanpakutous materialized. They were required to release and demonstrate their power to Aizen-sama. Szayel Aporro's release had been quite interesting. At that particular moment of their existence, they all released instinctively, the transformation unhindered by the unique personalities they had prior to their transformation which were regained soon after.

Szayel Aporro had done what had come naturally to him and instinctively swallowed his sword with ease. The display and result there of was quite enlightening as to his character as an Arrancar. As a result, he was often the source or target of cruel, lewd and suggestive barbs along with many jokes and rumors that circulated the ranks of the Arrancar frequently. Ulquiorra watched as the Arrancar turned himself into a recluse, finding sanctuary in his laboratory and solace in his work, far away from the harassing treatment of his superiors and subordinates.

Now that he was a child, at least in body, his 'comrades' were once again finding entertainment at his expense. If Ulquiorra were capable of such an emotion, he would almost pity the scientist, if not for his arrogant display earlier.

When the Octava emerged, amoeba-like wings fully grown and having completely foregone his sword swallowing technique, he seemed almost humbled. His characteristic grin was gone, his amber eyes no longer shining with amusement. Ulquiorra made no comment on this change, deciding that having been overpowered so easily made the Octava realize just how vulnerable he currently was.

Ulquiorra took a slightly more defensive stance, his legs spread shoulder width apart and right foot placed a foot back and hand stuffed securely in his pocket. "I am ready to continue when you are, Octava."

Szayel nodded curtly, meeting his superiors cool gaze with his own simmering one as he took his stance. His body thrummed with energy, the stagnant air of the training room alighting upon the feelers and flexible rubbery substance that made up his wings sending him an array of information ranging from room temperature, wind direction and reishi pressure. Not to mention the mere i_air/i_ that hit them was stimulating, making him increasingly uncomfortable. As an adult, he could ignore and suppress the feelings, the urges that surged within him as he took this form; the need that pooled within him. Now however, he couldn't even prevent the flush that slowly yet steadily creeped up his pale cheeks.

Frustrated with himself and his entire situation in general, he glared, leveling his arm out in front of him, his hand lax and lazily pointing towards his superiors hollow hole. He hesitated a moment, unsure if he really wanted to find out the extent of his disability. However he immediately discarded this thought and his doubt, charging a faint pink cero at the tip of one finger. It was one thing to be ignorant, and something completely different to remain willfully ignorant. Szayel wasn't ignorant, he wasn't naïve, and he wasn't a coward. Not when faced with the opportunity to broaden his vast expanse of knowledge. No matter what said knowledge was, he'd face it with an open mind, even if it pertained to his vulnerability. i_Especially/i_ in regard to his vulnerability.

Pursing his lips, he made to release the now fully charged pink cero when a shrill scream echoed through the room. Startled, he released it except it missed its mark completely; where it hit he wasn't sure. What he was focused on right then was the fact that the Quinta had appeared and was now holding the child six feet off the ground by her throat.

'He wouldn't dare,' Szayel thought in disbelief. Yet he had. Nnoitra's face was umpassionate, cool, yet his eyes were alight with barely suppressed rage. Szayel could see his fingers tighten around the pitifully small neck in his grasp, the owner of which was clawing in vain at his hands; her little face red and tear streaked. Szayel narrowed his own eyes, a rage of his own boiling up from within that the Quinta _dare_ lay a hand on their guest, a _child_. He knew the Quinta was a slimy character but really one had to draw the line somewhere!

Szayel was there in a flash of sonido, appearing alongside Ulquiorra, whose face was as expressionless as the Quintas. This unnerved Szayel slightly, how eerily similar the two could be at times.

Nnoitra glanced at them casually, as if their presence annoyed him, expression finally gracing his features in the form of a sneer.

"Really not smart of ya ta be sparrin' around _Pet-sama_. Somebody could get hurt."

"Put her down, Quinta." Ulquiorra ordered in a cool, demanding voice the brooked no argument. Ulquiorra was rewarded with an incredulous glare.

"Now why the fuck should I do that? The little bitch stole the bracelet I gave ta Tia!"

Szayel's amber eyes glimmered, a grin spreading across his face as he responded in Ulquiorra's stead.

"Inoue-chan didn't steal the bracelet from the Tercera. It was gifted to her. Tia didn't seem to want it if I do recall correctly."

This caused the Quinta's disdainful mask to crumble, his faced reddening with rage and humiliation as he attempted to sputter out a reply. Unfortunately, before he could form a halfway coherent retort, Ulquiorra took over again. Good that he did so too, as the child had finally passed out from asphyxiation.

"Put her down now, Quinta! Aizen-sama will be very displeased should anything happen to our guest!"

Szayel should have anticipated it. The raging fit Nnoitra was in, his embarrassment in front of superior and subordinate; backed into a corner with the threat of their Lord looming over his head. He had no choice but to let go, and let go he did, letting the unconscious child fall the six feet to the ground with a sickening thud.

Szayel was upon her immediately, carefully turning her over, overlooking the vindictive leer of Nnoitra and the accusing glare of Ulquiorra as he gently straightened her throat and airway, silently begging her to breathe. Not hearing anything, he bent down, pressing his ear against her chest to listen for her pulse which hammered erratically. Though he wasn't ready to give the 'okay' yet, her airway could still be damaged, swelling and preventing precious oxygen from reaching her lungs. He moved up from her chest, placing his ear against her mouth to listen intently.

It was very light, but he could feel her faint breath pillow against him, and the very distinct sound of air wheezing through her trachea into her lungs. It was then he let out a sigh of relief he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"She's alright, for now. Ulquiorra-sama, lets take her back to my lab so I can perform a more detailed analysis and administer additional treatment."

Ulquiorra registered the scientists words with an accusing glare which promised vast amounts of pain and discomfort for him should anything serious be wrong with his charge. He bypassed the Quinta, ignoring him completely as he crouched down and carefully gathered up the unconscious child in his arms. He couldn't help but feel partially responsible for her current condition. If he hadn't agreed to aid the Octava, hadn't stayed to see him release, she wouldn't be in the horrendous state she was in.

He felt his anger shift then, blood broiling as his orbs lay threateningly on Szayel, blaming him for the situation entirely. It was his fraccion's fault after all; they had turned the woman into a child. His gaze then traveled to lay upon the Quinta, who had pulled into place his cool, unpassionate mask, and now had eyes only for the child scientist in front of him. Yes, the Quinta was responsible as well, as he—they had all been directly ordered not to lay a hand on their guest. Yet the Quinta did so, because of that bracelet, a bracelet gifted by the Tercera. His anger once again shifted, though by then it was nearly spent. He couldn't find it in himself to be vehemently angry at the Tercera for befitting the 'Princess of Las Noches' with the gift, despite his promise to do so.

He stood, secretly fuming at the both of them and at himself as he slowly tracked out of the training room, Szayel a silent specter at his side.

Szayel, who was promptly stopped by a large hand that gripped his shoulder, painfully halting him. He paled as he felt fingernails dig in through the fabric of his thin jacket, piercing his apparently non-existent hierro and flesh, followed by a teasing voice that came from behind him.

"Where do ya think yer goin' Szayel? You an' I have unfinished business to attend to."

He felt a wave of spirit pressure crash down upon him, making his knees weak and nearly buckle. He experienced the vaguest tinge of fear then, infringing upon the edges of his mind. Before his accident, he might have had a chance against Nnoitra. Now, he was completely vulnerable, his power halved, there was no way he could free himself from him, let alone defend himself...or…fend him off. Surely Ulquiorra would know this? He swallowed harshly as he raised his amber eyes and met green orbs, silently pleading with his superior for the help he knew wouldn't come. After all, it was Szayel's fault his charge was injured and unconscious. Why would the Cuatro help him? This assumption was reaffirmed as Ulquiorra looked down his nose at him, only to turn away, his cold voice echoing in his ears.

"I'll be waiting at the lab."

* * *

A/N: No more teasers, sorry. I haven't been writing ahead to do them D:

Sorry for the cliffy. I'm really bad at those aren't I? hehehe.

So what happened to Szayel? Well. It's a dark chapter. It's…all insinuated. And…if you wish to know the details I have a short multi-side fic I will be putting out that corresponds with the Touch universe and storyline. Its /extremely/ dark and disturbing and if your not at least 18,** don't read it. Please.**

That said, I'd like to apologize for the 2 month wait…I just…fell out of love with this pairing and into love with others. For a while I just couldn't see myself writing Ulquiorra anymore, especially after role playing/writing characters like Nnoitra, Szayel and Tia. I found Ulquiorra absolutely boring.

As such…Szayel and Hime will become more involved with each other. Szayel will become a third main character, and the genre of the fic is going to change. I don't really plan to 'pair' any of them (not yet anyway). They'll develop…interesting relationships. That is all.

I know I promised I wouldn't make this a SzayHime fic, but its pretty darn close to being so. UlquiHimeSzay if anything. I just couldn't see myself finishing it without writing more Szayel, he makes this fun *shrugs*

The genre from this point forward will be friendship/humor + mild angst. I'm going to try to keep it happy and keep the angst centered in the other fic, but there will be some here, and it will serve to strengthen their odd relationships.

Now I apologize for this huge authors note and hope you stick with me through my not-so-great writing =)


	8. Revelations and Reassignment

Chapter 8: Revelations and Reassignment

Warning: This chapter isn't as angsty as the last, but it's there. I apologize for the lack of fluff, however I hope the ending makes up for it.

* * *

Ulquiorra watched the child's chest rise and fall rhythmically. She lay on a metal table in the middle of the Octava's theater, her face peaceful beneath the bright lights of the lab. She'd been unconscious for some time now, more than thirty minutes at least; and even though she continued to breathe normally, Ulquiorra was concerned. He could discern the beginnings of a hand shaped bruise forming around her frail neck, and though her breath came evenly, it still sounded rough and wheezy, as if her airway had been damaged.

He was completely at a loss for what to do. He was no scientist, no medic; he knew nothing. He didn't have the in depth medical knowledge required to diagnose and aid the child. He only knew how to fight, strategize, and analyze his opponent as well as kill and psychologically build up and break them down. He knew how to treat his own wound's should he become injured, but in healing others, he knew nothing. He felt completely useless.

If only he'd declined the request for assistance, if only he'd left the training room when he had the chance, then maybe, _maybe_ this wouldn't have happened. As irritated as he wished to remain at the Octava, at the Tercera and especially the Quinta, really he was the one at fault, the one to blame for the child's misfortune. She was his obligation, his duty. It was his job to do anything and everything necessary to protect her. Not put her in possible harms way.

He felt a pang of something then, within him, something he couldn't identify, something that _hurt._

And it disturbed him immensely.

He didn't _feel _anything. It…was wrong.

He shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind, to shake the unusual feeling off and made himself focus on other more important issue.

Like the fact that on the way to the Octava's laboratory, he was confronted by the Lord himself. He'd been quite displeased to see the condition their 'guest' was in and had immediately demanded an explanation. Ulquiorra had obliged, albeit reluctantly as not only did the information incriminate the Octava, Quinta and Tercera, but himself as well.

Upon Ulquiorra's admission, his Lord had gone silent; his face almost stone like as he'd stared down at the child, his usual charismatic, warm expression gone. His brown eyes had gained a cold gleam; similar to the one Ulquiorra had worn as he'd walked out on the Octava. Ulquiorra had seen that look several times, such as during their last meeting when the Sexta had been insubordinate. So wisely, he remained silent, pensive, wondering what sort of punishment his Lord would deem him in need of.

He wasn't surprised when his Lord broke the silence only to demand his and the Octava's presence as soon as the child was taken care of and in stable condition; in fact Ulquiorra expected him to make such a decision. After all, it wasn't _entirely_ his fault that the child lay in such condition on the laboratory table before him.

However, it would be his fault if her condition worsened, as it was he who left the Octava vindictively at the hands of the Quinta. The thought of the child scientist finally made Ulquiorra aware of the ever present whispering and footsteps of his Fraccion that were hovering in the background anxiously, wondering why Ulquiorra was there and where their Master had gone off to.

He knew where the Octava was and suddenly was regretting the decision in leaving him behind. Not because he was concerned for his well being at the hands of the Quinta, but because he was tired of waiting. He was impatient, the feeling that continued to nag at him only making him more so and soon he was found staring almost heatedly at the closed laboratory door, willing it to open.

He wasn't sure how much time passed with him staring, unfocused into space, when suddenly it swung open. A haggard, pale and slightly bloody scientist strode through like he owned the place; which of course he did. He immediately passed Ulquiorra like he wasn't even there, whether by accident or on purpose he couldn't tell through his analyzation of the Octava's current state of carefully hidden distress. He watched as the scientist made a beeline towards a backroom, bypassing the child to grab a short stool. He used this to prop himself up in front of the laboratory table, giving him the height he once had in order to better assess the damage done.

Ulquiorra approached him, standing beside the Octava's left shoulder, his eyes only for the unconscious child before him. He watched as her mouth was pried open just enough for the scientist to shine a tiny light inside, presumably to assess the damage done to her throat and 'tsking' at the hand shaped bruise that was by then clearly visible on her neck. Then he pulled out a stethoscope and used it to check her heart rate, all the while ignoring Ulquiorra's presence. Afterwards, the Octava carefully inspected the rest of her frail body, searching for broken bones, sprains and fractures that may have occurred in the short fall. It wasn't until he got down to her ankles that he let out an unconscious hiss. Before Ulquiorra could ask what he'd discovered, the Octava had removed her shoe and flitted away for the second time.

When he returned, it was with a small tub of healing salve and a roll of elastic bandage wrap. Upon seeing this, Ulquiorra decided he could keep silent no longer. "Will the child be alright?" This was asked a bit more heatedly than he'd intended, with a bit more feeling than was permissible, as he still had that annoying tinge of…something…plaguing him. Something he couldn't name, or didn't want to.

Szayel paused begrudgingly in his ministrations to address his superior, who he still resented for abandoning him at the hands of the Quinta. He inwardly noted with some amusement the hardly veiled emotion in the stoic Espada's voice and the way Szayel was being watched attentively as he analyzed and administered treatment to the girl. If the scientist didn't know better, he'd say there was a bit of guilt lacing the Cuatro's relatively simple question. This in turn brought a rather vindictive smile to Szayel's face; a smile he inwardly cursed himself for indulging in as it nearly resplit his busted lip.

When he spoke his voice came out weary, though no less confident in his diagnosis. "Yes, Inoue-chan will be fine. Her throat is obviously bruised, as well as the muscles inside, though not dangerously so. They are stable enough on their own and are not in need of an endotracheal tube to assist her in breathing. She also has a mild sprain." He indicated this by pointing towards her left ankle which was swollen and slightly discolored. "It's not broken, I can tell just by looking at it. The salve I will apply for pain, which will also cause it to heal at a quicker rate and then wrap it. She must stay off it for a week at the very least."

He paused in his explanation, turning slightly to look at the normally stoic Espada, a shadow of false concern darkening his features. "Why do you ask, Ulquiorra-sama? You're not…ill are you? If I didn't know you for the Aspect of Emptiness, I'd say you sound concerned, guilty even!" In his feigned show of distress, he brought up his arm in attempt to place a clothed wrist against the Cuatro's forehead, only to snap it back in a grimace of pain, barely holding back the startled gasp it caused.

He was suddenly reminded of his broken clavicle and it turned his once merrily vindictive expression sour. He'd been so focused on the problem at hand that he'd completely blocked out the wound; and now everything it represented returned with startling clarity. Not only that, he was irritated that he'd been cut off in the middle of his deceptively mocking jeer. Humiliated, and hurting both mentally and physically, he grew defensive, spitting out a cynical barb as he turned back to his work; his bitterness renewed at his superiors blatant disregard for his subordinates welfare. "Of course, after your earlier display of cool detachment, I'm surprised you can feel anything at all."

He stated this with the upturn of his petite nose, completely ignoring the Cuatro as he uncapped the small tub of salve and began applying it to the marred skin of the child's neck, then ankle; losing himself to his task as he did so.

However, Ulquiorra had begun reflecting upon the scientists comment at the word 'guilt' and was no longer paying him any attention, completely missing the bitter remark regarding his typically stoic personality. The feeling, the pain that flared and grew within him the longer he stared at the unconscious child, at the bruise still darkening around her thin neck and at her discolored ankle; that feeling…was guilt?

No…impossible. The Cuatro Espada, the Aspect of Emptiness, didn't feel remorse, let alone guilt. The scientist was wrong; this feeling that burned within him was not guilt. No, it was something else, most likely the lingering effects of the failure he'd incurred through letting harm come to his charge, his obligation and duty. He'd failed in the task set before him, allowing misfortune to befall their guest.

Yes that was it. His failure, it was paining him. But why? Since when did failure bother him so much before? 'Maybe because I've never failed before.' He thought reluctantly. It was his duty to assist their Lord Aizen-sama and complete the objectives set before him and up until then had done so with unwavering accuracy.

But in this task he failed, miserably; and inwardly he was bothered by it. But wouldn't that be similar to feeling guilt? The feeling that increased as he continued to look upon the child told him so, as much as he wished to deny it.

He was displeased over his failure, failure that aided in the unfortunate condition he found his charge in; a condition which he found himself feeling responsible for. A feeling the Octava mockingly identified as guilt.

The cries of the previously unconscious child brought him out of his reflective state of mind. He refocused his eyes, watching as she slowly came to awareness and struggled to comprehend what had befallen her.

What ended up bringing Little Hime to near consciousness was the sharp pain that flared up through her ankle as something or someone probed it, causing her to awake with a pained sob. Her eyes blinked open rapidly, only to shut them immediately as she was blinded by the rooms bright light. The sharp pain happened again and this time her shut eyes filled to the brim with tears which started spilling down her soft cheeks as she sobbed. The stabbing pain continued until it faded to a low throb, dulled by the cream and bandages she didn't realize had been applied to it.

As she cried, her throat grew constricted, making the bruising and tenderness in the muscles even more apparent, confusing her. She didn't know where she was or what had happened to hurt her so badly. She couldn't remember.

"Shhhhh Inoue-chan. It's alright. Calm down. You're inside my theater."

A soothing voice caught her attention that sounded vaguely familiar and she latched onto it desperately, focusing on it. She fought to open her eyes again and blinked frantically in an attempt to clear her bleary vision. She caught a flash of pink and felt a wisp of aura and immediately recognized who it was.

"Pi—Pinky?" she choked this out between hiccupped sobs which intensified as she realized just sore her throat was. "My…throat hurts." She whispered this out feebly and raised a hand to hesitantly rub at her bruised throat as if that would help get her point across.

"I know Inoue-chan. Give me a minute and I'll fix you up a bit of warm chamomile tea, okay?" Szayel said this clearly, in an unusually warm, calming voice as he shown the small light into the child's eyes and checked her pupil dilation. It was about time she'd regained consciousness. Sprained foot, sore and bruised throat aside, he deemed her in decent health.

"I'll be back in a moment Inoue-chan with something to make your throat feel better, okay?"

"I'm afraid we do not have time for that." Ulquiorra interrupted. "I encountered Aizen-sama on the way here and he has requested our presence in the throne room as soon as the child was deemed in suitable condition to attend." Ulquiorra tore his eyes from the child almost reluctantly, feeling a painful twinge as he did so. "I suggest we go now, as Aizen-sama is most displeased and will be angered further if made to wait longer than necessary."

Szayel paused from stepping down from his stool. The Cuatro was right, unfortunately for the child, an audience with their Lord took precedence over all else. "Ah, I see. In that case…" He turned back to the child and made sure he had her attention once more before speaking. "How would you like to go see Nii-sama, Inoue-chan? After we see him we can get something for your throat, okay?"

Little Hime tore her attention from the Clown, who she'd been focusing on intently through her watery eyes. Eyes that were red and puffy, yet despite this, they lit up a fraction at the mention of seeing her Nii-sama. She nodded just visibly, not wanting to speak, and not wanting to move her stiff neck. When Pinky smiled back at her, she returned it, albeit wearily, before shifting her gaze to her guardian.

Ulquiorra was oblivious to the child that stared up at him and instead watched as the Octava turned to him, his warm smile fading as the seriousness of the situation settled upon him.

"If you'll give me a moment to change into something more appropriate, we'll be on our way." He said this with a sneer, his tone slightly accusing. After all, it was partially the Cuatro's fault that his clothing was in the disgraceful state it was in. Not one to dally, he immediately hopped off his stool and quickly made his way out of the laboratory.

Ulquiorra watched him go detachedly before his attention was called back to the child, who had by then had managed to push herself upright into a sitting position and was still staring up at him with watery eyes.

"Ulqui..."

He watched as a wave of awkwardness and guilt overcoming him as the child raised her arms expectantly. It was quite obvious what she was asking for but he couldn't quite bring himself to accept it. Despite the pain she was in, despite his failure as the guardian who'd been assigned to protect her, she still wished to be in his presence. Yet…she was a mere child. She didn't know better. He'd been her only constant in her short life since the accident. This thought and her actions made him suddenly aware of how much the child had begun to rely on him.

The guilt tugged even harder at him while he continued to stare down at the child, who still had the occasional stray tear sliding down her flushed cheeks.

"Peas..."

The incessant nagging of his guilt pulled harder at him, driving him to do something, anything to help the pathetic human in front of him. And before he could stop himself, he did; reaching out to pick her up beneath her arms and holding her awkwardly to his chest, letting his hands fall to catch her legs, which reflexively wrapped around his waist. Little Hime in turn wrapped her tiny arms around his shoulders and borrowed into his neck, seeking the little protection he could offer in her confusion. He stood there stiffly, body tense as the child clung to him, feeling exceptionally awkward and wracking his mind for a logical reason for why he'd picked the child up in the first place.

"I don't feel good Ulqui…"

Ulquiorra felt a painful tug within him at her mumbled words that couldn't be anything other than the guilt of his failure. Unconsciously his grip on her tightened, but only just. "I know." Those were the only words he spoke to her since she awoke and continued to remain silent thereafter, while they waited for the Octava to return.

That was exactly how Szayel found them when he'd walked back into his laboratory; clean uniform donned and shoulder on the mend after a small injection of condensed liquid reishi. After having a bit of time to himself and mind been given the opportunity to think upon the unpleasant memories of what happened that day, his mood had turned even darker. So when he walked in and saw the two it was with a sardonic air he informed them he was ready.

"Good, I see you've taken the initiative to carry Inoue-chan to our destination. It seems you're capable of mercy after all, and all it took was a bit of failure and a wounded human child to bring it out. Hmph." He arched his brow as he said this before turning away disdainfully and heading towards the exit. "Let us leave, the longer we make Aizen-sama wait, the worse our punishment will be." This was said bitterly as he did not looking forward to confronting their Lord. He had enough problems and stress to deal with as it is, the last thing he needed was a reprimand to top it all off.

Ulquiorra stared after him incredulously, fuming inwardly at his words though not a flicker of emotion was discernible on his features. He wasn't going soft, as the scientist not-so-subtly accused him of. The child was his obligation, his responsibility. It was his duty to make sure the child was protected; and in that he failed. However, it wasn't his duty to care for the child as he was now. Yet, in this his logic prevailed. Yes he could force the child to walk, but it would hurt her, something he was supposed to prevent. Carrying her would also allow them to travel quicker; rather than having to wait upon the crippled child and making their Lord wait longer than was needed.

But there was another reason he held the child, a feeling that continued to nag at him as they made their way from the Octava's wing to the throne room; a feeling that had been recently named 'guilt.'

'Guilt that was born from his failure, not from the fact that the child was hurt.'

He repeated this thought again and again in his head as they entered the throne room.

He strode inside, following the Octava who had immediately dropped to a knee in subservience. Ulquiorra would have done the same if not for the child, so he stood there, head bowed and eyes down respectfully while he glanced at the others from his peripheral vision.

The Tercera was there to his left, standing with her arms crossed and looking quite collected behind her mask. She shot Ulquiorra a questioning look, her eyes lingering momentarily on the child in his arms. If Ulquiorra didn't know better, he could have sworn that she smirked behind her mask, the expression reaching up to her eyes and making them glimmer knowingly. However it was gone as quick as it was there, her eyes shifting back to their Lord respectfully.

The Quinta was leaning against the wall to his right, his posture tense despite his relatively casual stance. He'd been glaring resentfully at Gin when they'd walked in, however when his eyes alighted upon the Octava, his expression changed to a promising leer.

Gin on the other hand was standing behind and to the right of their Lord; his eyes slits and a small, knowing smile on his face aimed at the Octava.

Then, there was their Lord, whose expression and demeanor he couldn't discern through his lowered gaze.

"How fares our _guest_ Cuatro Espada?" His voice came out falsely warm as Ulquiorra watched him approach, his feet drawing ever closer.

Ulquiorra answered without preamble, knowing that delaying the inevitable would only increase his punishment. "She is on the mend now and only sustained a sprained ankle and bruised throat." He cut himself off there, knowing that if he gave more than what their Lord asked for, he'd be reprimanded for it.

"I see. That is why you failed to give me the proper respect upon entering, just as the Octava had humbly done. Rise, Szayel Aporro Granz." He passed the Octava as he relieved him of the formal subservient position and stopped next to Ulquiorra. Aizen eyed the child curiously.

Little Hime was still clinging to the Clown, her face buried safely in the crook of his neck. She didn't want to let go, she felt safe, comfortable in his arms. He was warm, despite his cold demeanor, and his aura seemed to flicker around her, soothing her, reassuring her. Soon, she found herself drifting off, dozing as her mind began to succumb to exhaustion.

It wasn't very long though before she was reluctantly pulled from her light slumber.

"Imoto-chan, are you alright?"

She frowned into Ulquiorra's neck, her little fists clenching at the hem of his collar.

"Imoto-chan, look at me."

It was her Brother, his voice full of concern and begging for her attention. She wanted to see her Brother. Pinky had promised she'd get to see him and he'd held true to that promise. Somewhat reluctantly she lifted her face out of the comforting nook, her eyes squinting against the bright white of the hall. It took her a moment but she stubbornly managed to clear her vision, focusing it against the sudden strain to turn her still very sore neck to look at her Brother as he'd requested; grimacing slightly in doing so.

"Good, Imoto-chan. Are you alright?"

She stared blearily at her Brother, his warm brown eyes and charming smile welcoming to her. She smiled weakly in turn.

"Okay, Onii-san." Her voice was rough, scratchy, and she gave a slightly pained expression as she spoke. "Throat hurts." She said quietly.

"My apologies Imoto-chan, I don't like to see you hurt." Aizen lied skillfully, his voice full of false sincerity and concern. He raised his hand and gently pressed upon the bruise that had formed around her neck, causing the child to let out a small whimper and flinch away. "Who did this to you?"

He of course knew, they all knew. Yet they waited on baited breath all the same for their 'guest' to point out the culprit.

Little Hime furrowed her brow in concentration, her eyes down cast for a moment before they flickered up to meet her Brother's once more.

"Don't know."

She really didn't. She couldn't remember what happened after Pinky had greeted them in the hallway to speak with the Clown. Then nothing and she woke up in his home, her foot and throat hurting.

Aizen cocked an elegantly sculpted eye brow while Nnoitra shifted anxiously against the wall.

Though before anyone could speak up, the Tercera stepped forward, her head held high yet eyes reflecting the guilt she felt within. "It's my fault the human child was hurt. I gave her a gift, a bracelet. It—"

"That is enough Tercera." Several sets of eyes shifted from the Halibel to Aizen, whose eyes never left the child. "It was a gift bearing no ill will, correct? No, you are not at fault my Tercera Espada. The fault lies in the hands of another." He frowned deceptively, gently removing his hand from the bruised expanse of skin he'd been inspecting. "Would you like to know who hurt you, Imoto-chan?"

Confusion flickered across her face. Did her Brother know who hurt her? How could he know, why did he seem so calm about it? Her brow furrowed and she unconsciously clutched tighter at the hem of her guardian's collar, only conceding after a moment with a reluctant nod of her head.

"Quinta, come forward."

Nnoitra let out a hardly restrained sound of exasperation, his lip curling as he shook his head in denial. "I didn't fuckin' do anythin' Aizen-sama!" He lied unconvincingly as he reluctantly pushed himself off the wall and trudged begrudgingly towards the trio, stopping a couple yards away.

Szayel scoffed as Aizen beckoned the Quinta closer. "Of course you didn't." He replied smoothly as he brushed fiery bangs out of the child's face.

Nnoitra edged closer, a sneer on his lip as he looked between the human bitch and Aizen. Despite the satisfaction he felt at the large hand shaped bruise forming around the bitch's neck, he knew he'd fucked up. Stolen bracelet or not, he knew he couldn't touch her and he did. He was just so pissed off at the thought of Tia giving it to the human…

"Look at the Quinta, Imoto-chan."

Her gaze shifted obediently, her tired eyes falling upon the Spoon man. She didn't understand why she had to look at him, how he had anything to do with…her trail of thought faltered, distracted by Spoony's wavering violet aura. It was drawn in, pulled close, as if for protection, yet hidden within she could feel dark, malicious intent. When she looked into his eye, saw the curl of his lip, she understood why.

Her skin paled and lip trembled as she remembered. His frightening face, his dangerous aura and the pain she felt when he'd hurt her. Fresh tears slid down her cheeks. Why did the man hurt her? What did she ever do to him? She couldn't understand it. Didn't know why he was so mean and his aura so evil. She hiccupped out a simple, one worded question in her confusion and quest to understand. "Wh—why?"

Ulquiorra felt himself pull the trembling child closer, the need to comfort her once again arising at the most precarious moment. He went unnoticed however, as all eyes were on the Quinta and child.

"Tch…I ain't gotta explain shit ta a fuckin' human brat."

"Why not Quinta? You had to have had a reason to hurt her, to cause her such distress, against a direct order not to, nonetheless." Aizen's icy tone turned warm and concerned as he redirected his attention back to the child. "Do you want me to punish the Quinta, Imoto-chan?"

Nnoitra's sneer faltered and he backed up a step, though he had nothing to fear.

Little Hime shook her head immediately. "No! Don't hurt Spoony! Pease stop fighting!" She looked wide eyed between her Brother and the tall Spoon man. She wasn't sure what was going on but she knew that she didn't want anymore fighting. No more people hurting. Even if the Spoon man had hurt her she wouldn't hurt him back.

"Pease…"

Nnoitra's sneer returned full of incredulity at her words. The hell! He didn't need any fuckin' mercy from a human brat! He could take whatever the bastard decided to throw at him. Bring it on! The hell was he waiting for? He opened his mouth to voice a taunt when Aizen cut him off.

"As you wish, Imoto-chan. We won't fight anymore, okay?" He smiled warmly at her as he lied through his teeth.

Nnoitra stared at him stupidly. Huh? He'd gotten off that easy? No fucking way. An amethyst eye narrowed skeptically, searching for the truth. He's gotta be up to something…

"Szayel, please escort our guest and the Cuatro to your wing where they'll be staying for the remainder of her…condition. It is not safe for her what with renegade Arrancar and the ryoka roaming around. With you, your heavily defended wing and the Cuatro by her side, an 'accident' like this will not occur a second time." He paused for a moment looking thoughtful. "Also, I wish for you to find out immediately if it is possible for her to use her powers in that form."

"Of course, Aizen-sama. Rest assured. No more harm will come to Inoue-chan and I will start working on that at once." Szayel reaffirmed smoothly, acknowledging the underlying threat that their Lord had hidden beneath his words. He bowed elegantly, turning on his heel and leaving, his calm and collected mask slipping. He knew a dismissal when he saw one and wanted to leave immediately, as inside he was positively seething.

Wonderful. Just fantastic. On top of everything-fucking-else now he had to play host to the Cuatro and Princess. As if he didn't already have enough stress to deal with. Nnoitra. Gin. Now those two. It was enough to make him want to pull his pink hair out if not for the fact that he'd look hideous in doing so. For lack of a better outlet, he pushed hard on the solid sekki sekki stone door, expecting it to open with a satisfying slam and bounce back—something, anything relatively destructive that he could take his frustration out on.

His brow twitched when it didn't move a single inch.

'You have got to be kidding me!' His face flamed, turning cherry red as he glared daggers at the immovable door. Just fucking peachy; the topping on the god damn proverbial cake. He couldn't even open a door! Of all the unfortunate accidents to befall him, he had to turn into a useless, weak, pathetic little child! 'This is just…and I can't even…and they're…' He twitched again; flexing his hand sorely tempted to cero the god damn thing and bring it down. But no, he couldn't even do fucking that. He might leave a smudge mark, if he was lucky. And they were watching him. Aizen, Gin, that bastard Nnoitra…

He drew in a breath, attempting to compose himself and maintain what little dignity he had left. He mustn't lose the rest of his control, at least not while in the presence of his superiors.

Tia, who had watched the whole display felt sympathetic towards the Octava. The Arrancar caught so much grief from subordinates and superiors alike…and now this? It was a wonder they hadn't seen him lose his composure sooner. Seeing as her presence was no longer needed, she bowed respectfully to Aizen-sama and departed, quickly making her way to the stone door where Szayel still stood glaring at it. A glare which was directed at her as she stood beside him, his amber eyes narrowing as if to dare her to say anything.

She arched a golden brow at him, her own eyes staring at him defiantly. Bright green eyes that hid well the sympathy and concern she felt for Szayel. She knew that last thing he wanted was her sympathy. He was too prideful for that.

"Don't you look at me like that Szayel, you know better. When have I ever judged you?"

She narrowed her own eyes, daring him to contradict her. She had him on that one. She never judged him. She never judged period. It wasn't her place to, and she would not tolerate disrespect of any form from the small Arrancar, regardless what mood he was in.

Szayel continued to glare heatedly up into fierce green eyes for a few moments before he reluctantly deflated. She was right. Tia had never judged him, ever. She always happened to be around to offer him a smile with her eyes or kind words. And here he was attempting to take his frustrations out on her. Damn he really needed to find a proper outlet…maybe he'd dissect one of his fraccion the next day…

"Ah…yes of course Tia. You're right. Please excuse me…I've…" He huffed, cutting himself off. The last thing he needed was to lay his problems out on her, in the middle of the throne room no less. "Would you please open the chamber door so I may be on my way? I must make preparations for my…guests." He said the last with a sneer, his annoyance peaking once more.

Her expression softened, appeased. It was extremely difficult to get Szayel to admit to being wrong let alone apologize, and she'd just succeeded in both. "Alright, just don't let it happen again. Or I may just have to 'reprimand' you." She teased as she pushed open the chamber door and stepped out into the hallway. Her smile intensified at Szayel's suddenly mortified expression and flushed face.

Ulquiorra watched bemusedly as the chamber door shut on the Tercera and Octava. Judging by the way the Octava was handling the reassignment; he resigned himself to a forced, uncomfortable stay in his wing. Intending to follow the duo, he bowed awkwardly to their Lord and departed. He didn't get far as the child in his arms began squirming frantically.

"Onii-san! Onii-san!"

Little Hime twisted around in her guardians hold, peering over his shoulder to stare longingly at her Brother.

"Onii-san!"

Ulquiorra took the not too subtle hit and turned around on his heel and walked resolutely back to their Lord, a tightly concealed look of amusement on his face. However as the child twisted around once more and held her arms out to her 'Brother,' his amusement disappeared, replaced by the urge to yank her away. The man before him was sinister, deceptive and powerful. What could the child want with him and why was she so insistent that he was her 'Brother'? Her naivety continued to appall him and he could do nothing to stop him when their Lord gathered the child up in his arms and hugged her to his chest.

"Aww I'm sorry Imoto-chan. I forgot to say goodbye." Aizen said warmly, tightening his hold on the child and kissing the top of her head with false affection. Inside he was gloating. The child was much too easy to manipulate. It was absolutely imperative that the Octava discover if it is possible for the child to use her abilities in this form. To be able to raise and mold her to his will, using her powers of rejection to suit his own needs, was an opportunity too good to pass up.

Little Hime tightened her little arms around his shoulders and neck as best she could, squeaking a little bit with the effort. It felt really good to be hugged by her Brother. His warm, comforting aura wrapped around her and she felt safe. Happy. All she wanted to do right then was stay with him, where she felt whole and loved. She pulled back, craning her neck up to beam at him, her tears long gone leaving nothing but a slight stain on her round cheeks.

"Onii-san I wanna stay with you!"

Ulquiorra felt his gut clench painfully at her words, at her enthusiasm. And he glared, though not at the child or their Lord, but inwardly at himself. The child was getting to him and he didn't like it. Not one bit.

Aizen smiled warmly down at her as he smoothed fiery bangs out of her face. "As much as I'd love that Imoto-chan, Onii-san is a busy man. I have work to do. We can have tea later, okay?"

She pouted and her fists tightened around the hem of her Brother's collar. She knew he was busy but she missed him. She didn't like having to spend all her time away from him and really, all she wanted right then was to be held by him. She smiled weakly up at him, suddenly feeling tired and let down. "Okay, Onii-san."

"What's with the look Imoto-chan? I'll make some time for you soon I promise. How about when we have our tea party we get Gin-sama to play dress up with you and Tosen-sama to braid your hair?"

Gin's customary grin faltered and he shifted to his other foot uneasily. He was jest jokin', right?

Little Hime's eyes lit up at the idea. Yeah she wanted to spend time with her Brother but she liked making new friends too! "Okay Onii-san!" Easily pleased and feeling much happier she straightened up and gave her Brother an innocent kiss on the lips.

He returned it just as chastely, not at all surprised by the unexpected move. After all he was a manipulative mastermind, though inwardly he was fuming. Having to act so soft and weak in front of Gin-sama and his subordinates was ridiculous!

Still smiling, his immaculate teeth gleaming in the bright light, he passed the child off to the Cuatro Espada. "I'll see you later, Imoto-chan. Please be sure to get plenty of rest so you can heal quickly!"

For a strategic genius, their Lord was completely oblivious to the searing look Ulquiorra directed at him as he awkwardly gathered the child back in his arms. With one last final, somewhat mocking bow, he turned to depart.

"Bye Onii-san!"

Little Hime waved goodbye to her Brother over her guardian's shoulder as they exited the chamber.

"Goodbye, Imoto-chan!" He smiled, giving a little wave of his own before he turned, his expression going from warm the serious and cold as he turned, unsheathing his zanpakutou and addressed the Quinta. "Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu."

Back in his culinary lab, Szayel was focusing on the task at hand.

Making tea. Lots of tea.

He found the process oddly soothing. He allowed his mind to go blank as he waited for the kettle to whistle and gathered the required ingredients and utensils. Two tea balls full of loose leaf chamomile. Four apple slices, which he'd mashed up and put into the kettle for flavor. Honey and milk, and two tea sets; the small mesh wire tea ball chains dangled off the side of each tea pot.

The first tea set was sort of plain, bland. It was nothing but a white tea pot with a gold trim, the lower half encircled by an amber strip; the tea cups were similarly decorated. The other set however, was much more intricate. It was made of porcelain, its color a beautiful, milky mother of pearl. Fired upon its smooth surface was the life cycle of a phoenix that seemed to shimmer as it grew, died and was reborn. The single matching tea cup was colored and painted likewise.

With nothing else to do, picked up the canister of tea and opened it, bringing it up to his nose to inhale the wonderful, sweet scent. It was a guilty pleasure he rarely indulged in, chamomile. Usually he'd stick to lighter more energizing teas such as jasmine and orange blossom as he was often busy running experiments, so he couldn't afford to be hindered by the effects of chamomile.

Tonight however, he'd make an exception. His day had been extremely strenuous; taxing mentally and physically. There were times where he thought he'd explode or crumble in frustration and shame. Like when he arrived back at the lab just a short while ago, he nearly ceroed one of his fraccion. The only reason he'd stopped is because he needed them to prepare the parlor for their 'guests'.

He sighed as he recapped the canister and set it back on the counter.

His guests would be arriving shortly; he could sense them traversing his trap leaden corridors. Soon his quiet solitude would be broken.

He stared at the tea kettle and watched as the steam began shooting out of the spout. Soon after it began to whistle quietly signaling it was nearly boiling and ready to pour. Stepping off his stool, he went and turned off the burner. He picked up the kettle with a sure hand and brought it over to the island where the tea sets awaited. Stepping back up on the stool, he poured the simmering liquid over the tea balls. He closed his amber eyes and inhaled, savoring the soothing, fragrant scent the leaves released as they opened up. After a moment, he exhaled, sighing as he felt himself pulled back from the edge of insanity that he had been preciously balancing on earlier.

He smiled weakly to himself, covering both tea pots so it would steep properly and set about rearranging the tea sets on a large platter. One he was satisfied he carefully picked up the tray and balanced it on his forearms as he made his way out of the lab into the parlor.

"Lumina! Verona! Escort our guests to the parlor once they arrive and see to it that they are well taken care of. Inform them they are welcome to anything in that room however they are expressively forbidden from wandering about my lab." Szayel said this irritably, despite the calming effects of the chamomile, the thought of actually _living_ with other Arrancar, let alone a human for any length of time made him anxious and paranoid. He didn't like company unless said company were the subjects he frequently experimented on. He liked his solitude damn it! He didn't want to have to stress all the time about whether the human child will listen or go wandering about his lab. It was dangerous! And if anything else happened to her…

He set the tray down on the short coffee table in the parlor and pinched the bridge of his nose. Really, what the hell was their Lord thinking? This was the least safest place for her! Normally he could care less if a human were harmed, but this particular human? She held their Lord's favor. He couldn't let harm come to her, period. Or it would be he who suffered the consequences.

Pocketing the honey and a stirring spoon, he grabbed his tea pot and cup before he made for his room, not even bothering to check to see if the parlor was in living condition for their guests. It's not that he didn't care. He did have his pride to uphold. He just had faith in his fraccion. They wouldn't fail him in this. Yes they were unquestioningly devoted and would die for him, but they weren't complete idiots. He'd made them that way.

So it was with the assurance that his unwilling companions were taken care of and with much relief that he entered his room and shut the door behind him with his foot, just as his fraccion greeted the Cuatro and Little Hime in his foyer.

The fraccion did their job flawlessly, as ordered. They promptly escorted their 'guests' to the parlor, only pausing for a moment along the way to point out the restroom. Inside the parlor they pointed out the sofa and a small but comfortable looking futon in the corner which was stocked with fresh blankets and pillows. They also delivered their Master's order, withering beneath Ulquiorra cool stare as they did so. With their task complete, they retreated to the control room where they could keep a watchful eye on them.

That left Ulquiorra alone with the human child which he still held uncomfortably in his arms. It was unsurprising that the Octava, their 'host' had chosen to retreat to the solitude of his chamber, leaving his fraccion to settle them in. 'At least the scientist hadn't forgotten his earlier promise to the child,' he thought as he strode over to the sofa and sat the child down, her little legs left to dang precariously over the edge.

That wasn't to last however. Predictably, the human slid off the couch in an attempt to go explore and immediately cried out in pain against the added pressure upon her sprained foot.

"Ow ow owie!" Despite the pain in her ankle she clung to the side of the couch for dear life as her lip trembled and tears began to prickle once more at the corner of her eyes.

Almost mechanically, Ulquiorra picked her up beneath her arms and sat her on the couch once again, this time all the way back. "You must remain off that foot until it heals, otherwise you will keep hurting yourself. Do you understand, girl?"

She stared up at him with wide grey eyes and red cheeks. She sniffled, nodding reluctantly after a moment that she understood, even though she didn't like it.

"Good." He sat down on the cushion beside her and poured her some of the steaming tea from the pot. He didn't know what flavor it was by the sweet scent it gave off, but nonetheless found himself oddly soothed by it. Turning to her, he asked her how she liked her tea prepared.

"I dunno."

Well he didn't know either. He never drank the tea offered to him during meetings, never cared to. However he did occasionally watch how it was prepared. Green eyes scanned the small tray, picking out the items he needed and imitated those he'd watched during the meetings. He poured a little sugar, added a bit of cream and stirred. The liquid turned a smooth beige color and seemed to cool down to the proper temperature as well. Placing the cup on a small saucer, he carefully handed it to the child, hoping he'd prepared it correctly.

"Here. Try this. Sip it slowly. It is hot."

Little Hime took the proffered cup and saucer and hesitantly took a sip. The warm liquid felt really good going down her bruised throat and it tasted really sweet and creamy. Just right! She let out a relieved sigh and beamed up at the Clown. "It's good! But…"

"Yes?"

"Needs sawbearwy seerup!" She nodded her head to accentuate the fact with a very serious look on her face.

He looked down at her, not at all amused. Did he not do it right? He'd never seen Aizen-sama or Gin-sama add…strawberry syrup?...to their tea before. Ulquiorra was not familiar with tea flavors and what items were good to add to taste but he had a distinct feeling that strawberry syrup was not one of them. To his relief however, the girl continued to sip on her provided drink.

He sat back as he waited for her to finish and attempted to figure out what to feed the child that evening. Neither the Octava nor the fraccion informed him as to the availability of edible human food in their wing. His only option if he wished to feed the girl would be to take her back down to the common dining area.

"Quickly finish your tea. I must escort you to the dining area for your scheduled meal before it gets too much later."

He heard the clink of glass and looked over to see that the child had placed her empty saucer and cup on a small table at the end of the couch and then proceeded to crawl over to him and curl up against his side, uncaring.

"Not hungy, tired."

Little Hime burrowed underneath her guardians arm and nuzzled into the warmth of his side as she wrapped a tiny arm around his waist. If she couldn't have her Brother hold her, then she'd get Clown to do it. She was tired and he was warm and comfy.

And stiff. Something Little Hime was oblivious to. Ulquiorra sat tense as the child used him as some rendition of a pillow, trusting him not to move or push her away. Her ignorance of the world she lived in was truly astounding. He was a monster. A killer.

But of course she's too young and naïve to realize this.

Slowly and carefully he tried to get out of the girls grasp, scoot away from her, pry her fingers away from his jacket…but frustratingly, the sleeping child held firm.

Resigning himself to yet another unpleasant experience, he allowed himself to sink down into the couch and attempted to relax as best he could and prayed that his subordinate and host didn't walk in on him in this ridiculous position.

* * *

A/n: So yeah. Ulquiorra was being emo cause he learned guilt and compassion :3 and he's a horrible tea maker. I mean really, cream and sugar in chamomile? Ugh!

Well, two month wait. I have no excuses. I just hope this chapter didn't disappoint too badly. The angst had to happen to get Ulquiorra to learn those emotions, ya know?

You might be confused by the drama centered around Szayel…well that's all explained in my other fic, which is explicit and rated M. Read if you want but beware.

Also, the liquid reishi injection concept belongs to my friend Emochromatic aka Tinari


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